


Thanks a lot Mr. Han

by Pozolegirl



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, GONNA TAG THIS ONE AS TEEN THAT'S A FIRST, I just used MC as a place holder name, Reader Is Not Main Character (Mystic Messenger), Roommates, ahahahaAAAA, but i write... spicy stuff, holy crap honestly though there will be intense kissing in this please be aware, i don't write dirty stuff D:, just for kissing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-08 21:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13467111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pozolegirl/pseuds/Pozolegirl
Summary: Chairman Han sets up his son. In possibly the worst most unprofessional way.-I just used MC as a place holder name for the reader, but this is a very Jumin centric story and so this is not the typical MC from the game!Also, for story purposes this is a very modest, successful in business, and German fluent MC.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Jumin met her was at a meeting when C&R made the deal proposal with GoldStar, the company she worked for. She was acting as a representative, an assistant manager, and a highly favored one at that. 

He was impressed of course with the straightforward way that she spoke, intelligent and clear, not muddled with unnecessary or flowery words that he often heard among businessmen. But there was something strange about her too. It didn’t feel as though she was simply there for business. She had a kind of warmth to her, a friendliness that he hardly saw. Usually he would label this as unprofessional for the workplace, but she kept an interesting balance, and he found himself addressing her rather than the chairman of GoldStar multiple times, making himself course correct often. 

There was something about her smile too, it was human. He could tell when a smile was forced. Seeing a genuine one on her made him feel good about the deal, and good about the company. He had to hold himself back from directly asking her if she would consider working for C&R, though he did joke lightly about it as he complimented her work ethic. 

It wasn’t till the meeting had progressed for a few hours that he realized it was the first time in a long time that he’d felt this comfortable around a woman coworker. Jaehee didn’t count, of course, but whenever he spoke to a woman at the company they would do one of two things. Either they would be obviously too scared to look at him straight or emotionally vacant, or they would be trying to flirt with him. Both made him frustrated. He knew this was mainly due to how he acted and his reputation, so he couldn’t fault them, but it still didn’t change the fact that he didn’t feel comfortable around them.

But being around her was like a breath of fresh air, and it once again reminded him that he needed to be more careful about how he saw the women he worked with. He knew that he tended to have a negative opinion about them, due to his history, but he had been trying hard to not let that make himself treat them differently than the male employees. They made it really hard for him sometimes though. 

“It was nice to meet you Mr. Han. Will I be seeing you at the dinner party tonight?” she asked as the meeting ended, holding out her hand. He took it, shaking it as he nodded saying,

“Yes, I’ll be there. I’d like to discuss your opinions on how we can get our competitor to work with us for this deal. I’m sure you have different opinions that others, and I’d be interested to hear them.” 

She gave him one of those genuine smiles again and she said assuredly,

“Of course, I’d love to hear your opinions as well.” 

He gave her a nod as he followed his father out of the room then, amidst the talking crowd, and he watched her smile until she was out of view. Walking back to the car, his father patted his back, making him look at him in surprise. 

“That assistant... She’s so charming, isn’t she? I’m sure she has a big future in GoldStar.” Chairman Han said, and Jumin made a small noise of agreement. 

“She was awfully pretty.” his father continued and Jumin rolled his eyes with a sigh. “She had the whole room captivated, didn’t she? I saw you watching her the whole time.” 

“Father, please, you know how I feel about things like this.”

“I’m not talking about  _ my _ relationships, I was just asking you if you thought a girl was pretty!” he laughed good naturedly, and Jumin had to hold back from giving him a very annoyed glare. Then he shook his head explaining,

“Father, to be honest I didn’t even notice. I was more focused on the  _ business meeting we were having. _ If anything I was impressed with her way of words and knowledge of the agreement. She seemed more in touch than the chairman himself if I’m being completely honest.” 

“Hmm, is that so? Well that’s good for you then, I was distracted, haha.” his father laughed, and Jumin wrinkled his nose for a moment. “I’m joking Jumin, don’t look so miffed. But really, at the dinner party let’s try to be a little more friendly instead of business oriented. It’s a chance to make friends and connections... it’ll be okay to notice things like appearance if you wish.” 

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Jumin said, trying to stop the conversation. Now he just felt nervous about the party. The last thing he needed was his father to fall victim to another woman’s charms... he hoped that she wasn’t like that.

 

\---

 

Jumin was upset with his father. If his father hadn’t said anything then he wouldn’t be in this situation. He wouldn’t be standing in front of this perfectly mature and capable business partner, while still noticing what she looked like. She still had that smile on her face, but he noticed the rest of her now as well. The kind eyes, her nose, the way her pretty hair was tucked behind her ears. Since it was the dinner party now, she wasn’t wearing her business dress. Now it was a modest deep red cocktail dress, and it was so much easier to find himself glancing at her, the color continuing to catch his eye. 

Women in red dresses seemed like a literal red flag in his mind, but he was allowing himself to get dangerously close to her still. She acted the same way she had in the meeting, although now she laughed as well as smiled, and asked the other party goers about the other parts of their lives, finding their interests and allowing them to express them. 

Jumin didn’t realized he had been staring at her so much until he realized he was making eye contact with her, and that he had been for a minute or two. He immediately looked away, taking a drink from his wine glass. When he lowered it however she was there, smiling politely at him.

“Hello Mr. Han, it’s nice to see you again.” she said, smiling. 

“Hello... it is nice to see you too.” he said, a little haltingly, which he instantly regretted. She began talking to him about the deal, and he was devastated to find that his mind continued to pull blanks. All he could remember were the basic details of the deal. C&R was joining alongside GoldStar to become business partners with a foreign company, Zimmerlein. Together they would all be able to open up new trade and possibilities that would benefit them all. 

That was all that was in his brain at the moment though, he was having trouble remembering how to pronounce the company names anyways. Thankfully, by a miracle or her noticing his reluctance to speak about business for once, she instead asked him,

“Your father told me that you have a cat... what’s her name?”

Jumin immediately felt his anxiety calm down for a moment as he smiled saying,

“Elizabeth the Third...” 

“That’s beautiful! I’m sure she’s lovely.” 

“She is.” Jumin said, and he had to stop himself from pulling out his phone and showing her pictures. “You were talking to my father?” he asked instead, and she nodded with a smile.

“Yes, he’s quite friendly. He talked a lot about you, it’s admiring to see family members as close as you two are.” 

“Thank you...” Jumin was lost as to what to say again, and she just smiled in the silence. He mentally shook himself and then began asking her about how she’d begun to work for GoldStar, and what she knew about future possibilities. The more she told him, the more interested he became, and he was finally able to get a grip on conversation again after a few minutes. When dinner began they sat beside each other, not wanting to finish their conversation, and he found himself beginning to smile back at her as well. They soon slipped into talking about ordinary things aside from business again, and she coaxed him into bringing out his phone to show her pictures of Elizabeth the Third, hiding it under the table so the others wouldn’t see. 

It was at this point that he realized how unprofessional he had allowed himself to become, but he didn’t feel guilty as he saw her eyes light up at the pictures.

“Oh she’s beautiful! She’s like a little princess!” she said, swiping lightly with her finger to see the blurry pictures that he had taken. 

“Jumin, you’re not making her look at pictures of your cat are you?” his father asked on the other side of him, and Jumin felt himself jump a little, pulling his phone back instinctively. 

“Oh it’s okay! I asked him to show me!” she clarified, leaning over to look at the chairman who had a curious look on his face. “She’s a very pretty cat, I’d love to meet her someday.” she said with a smile, and Jumin felt like his face grew warm as he looked at her. 

“Hmm...” Chairman Han glanced up at Jumin for a moment before looking back at his food, a smile on his lips. Jumin tried to ignore him, and continued talking to her, eventually slipping back into smiling. 

By the time dinner was over, Jumin was sad to say goodbye to her, and was wondering just how to do it when her own boss walked over and told her news that made her face light up. 

“I’ve been really impressed with you this whole evening MC... And after reviewing your qualifications and talking it over with others, I’ve decided that you should be the one going on the business trip and making the deal alongside C&R’s representative.”

“Really?! Thank you sir, that means a lot! I’ll make sure to do my best in securing the deal.” she said, shaking his hand, and Jumin smiled.

“Congratulations. I’m sure you’ll do well.” he said, smiling at her. She looked a little bashful at this and then said,

“Thank you... it’ll be nice to work with you! I guess I’ll be seeing you soon then!” 

He was still smiling, taking her outstretched hand and just holding it for a second. Then he realized how awkward that was as her face began to turn a little pink, and he quickly shook it firmly before letting go. 

“Yes... I look forward to it as well! Goodbye!” he said, and he headed towards the exit where his father was waiting for him to leave. Then his brain started moving again, his face feeling warm again as he thought back through what she had said. It would be nice to work with him? She’d be seeing him soon? He was confused as to what-

“I’m the representative for C&R, I’m the one going on the business trip!” he suddenly blurted out, feeling it click in his head. His father glanced at him, smiling but obviously confused. 

“Yes?” 

“So that means I’ll be going on the business trip with her- uh... Well.” he got ahold of himself again, taking a deep breath before finishing calmly, “Well that is sure to be a successful meeting, she’s more than capable. I look forward to working alongside her.” 

His father didn’t say anything, he just grinned at him suspiciously and Jumin felt his face grow hotter. 

 

\----

 

“You’re sure the suitcase can’t get here in time?” she asked, trying to keep the worry from her voice.

“It’s been sent halfway across the world, Assistant MC, it’s not going to reach where you are until much too late! We’ll have it sent back here to Korea for you at your return.”

“I only have my business suit with me...  I can’t wear that for a week, it’s so humid in Germany during these months!” she said, already aware that it needed to be washed.

“Not to worry, I’ve been with Chairman Han the whole time and he said he’d immediately inform someone in the area to send you a lot of new clothes, he was practically all the way finished with the order as soon as he offered it.” her boss laughed, and she sighed, rubbing her eyes. “In fact it should be arriving at your hotel room soon, along with someone to pick up your suit to be laundered as well. How about- oh- yes hang on a moment.” the line was quiet for a moment, except for the faint voices that she could hear. Then he picked up again saying,

“Chairman Han is asking if he can talk to you, here he is.” 

“MC! I hope your flight went well! I’m sorry to hear about your suitcase, but the replacement clothes should be over soon. I don’t want you to be stressed anymore, alright? What time is it over there? Almost midnight isn’t it? Jumin should have arrived by plane just awhile ago as well... how about you just take a shower and relax alright? I wouldn’t want you to be stressed over something this small, you have your jetlag to get over.”

“Alright... I’ll do that. Thank you again Chairman Han, you’ve done so much for me.”

“It’s no problem at all! Your one of my best friend’s best employees, I’d be happy to do anything for someone as charming as you!” 

“Thank you.” she repeated, smiling at his words. He hung up after another goodbye and she sighed, putting down her phone. She really should take a moment to relax, it was a very long flight. 

She changed out of her business suit, laying it out on a chair so that if the person with new clothes came they could find it, and she went into the shower. 

It was very nice to take a shower, to finally let her hair down from it’s pins and just relax. She was tense from the upcoming deal, and tense from the long plane ride with the confusion of her suitcase as well. Everything was going to be fine, she knew it would be, but at the moment she couldn’t escape the worry clouding her mind from the day’s leftover panic. After a shower though she felt much better and she stood in front of the mirror, brushing through her wet hair for a few minutes. (Thankfully her toiletries had been in carry on bag with her) Just as she was finished with the comb she heard the door of the hotel close, and she assumed that meant that her new clothes had arrived. She wrapped herself into a towel, holding the fluffy fabric close to her as she stepped out into the hallway, hoping that the person would be gone by now. 

However, she gasped as she immediately walked right into another person, and she bounced off of them a little, stumbling backwards. To her horror however, when she looked up in a panic to see who it was, it was Jumin Han staring back at her, his eyes wide in shock. 

“Ah!” was all she could squeak, clutching the towel closer to her till her knuckles turned white. He blinked and then said, his voice weak and confused,

“Miss MC? Why... Why are.... Am I in the wrong hotel room?” 

He quickly turned around, speed walking away to go read the room number on the door. He came back, looking more flustered and said,

“I’m in the right room, are  _ you _ in the right room?” 

She had backed into the bathroom by now, hiding behind the door as she asked nervously, 

“W-What’s the room number?!” 

“2008?” 

“Th-That’s the right room! That’s the year my little brother was born in, so I remembered it!!!” she said defensively, still hiding behind the door. He looked more flustered than she had ever expected to see him before and he ran his fingers through his hair nervously, muttering about how it couldn’t be right under his breath. He then began opening the doors of the room, checking inside all of them.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

“Looking for another bedroom, maybe it’s a split one?”

“O-Oh! That would make sense!” she stuttered, her hand clutching the door knob.

After a few seconds however he stopped, and she could hear him sigh. After a moment of silence then he said, his voice returning to its original calm manner,

“I’m sure there was just a mix up of room numbers, not to worry. I’ll call my assistant immediately.” He took out his phone and she waited awkwardly by the door, trapped. Well she wasn’t really trapped, she had a towel, she could go grab her clothes and change, couldn’t she?

She was so embarrassed that the option didn’t seem like a practical one. So she just waited instead. 

“Assistant Kang, there has been a mix up of my hotel room.” he said as soon as the woman picked up. He then began to speed through a telling of the events, not letting her speak until he finished and then he paused for a moment to finally listen. 

“What? But you always make my room reservations, what do you mean someone else did? Who else,  _ I need to speak to them.” _ he said menacingly, and MC cringed a little. 

“Oh Ju- uh- Mr. Han, there’s no need to get anyone in trouble over this-”

“MY FATHER?”

That made MC stop and raise her eyebrows in surprise. Jumin walked away down the hallway, arguing with Jaehee and quizzing her on why his own father was the one to make reservations for both of them, and why had he messed up so badly. MC took this opportunity to move out of the bathroom and back into the main room, looking for her suit. It was gone however, with a pile of dress bags lying over the chair instead, a tag with her name on them. One hand holding onto her towel, she used the other to grab the one on top, hurrying back towards the bathroom. She and Jumin both yelped when they ran into each other in the hallway again, and he had to steady her so she wouldn’t fall down, letting go of her like lightning almost immediately after. She closed the door behind her quickly, waiting as she heard him begin to call his father. 

He had put his phone on to speaker mode at this point, she wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t hear very well or if he wanted her to be able to hear the explanation as well, and she waited for a moment, listening to their soon heated conversation.

“It’s only one room father! Why would you do this?”

“It was the only room available Jumin, calm down will you? You’re a responsible adult, not a silly high schooler, why are you so upset?”

“Father, it wouldn’t matter who went with me on this business trip, it would be uncomfortable to share a room and bed with literally anyone, I’m really upset with you!”

“Sharing a bed? It’s a room for two people, there should be two beds, you know, with a desk beside both of them-”

“ _ This is a suite with one bed, these things are always on the website, how could you have not noticed something that important?!” _

“Oh ho, is that right? Haha, that’s funny-” there was something mischievous about the way the Chairman sounded, and Jumin noticed it.

“FATHER, THIS ISN’T FUNNY, I DEMAND YOU GET ANOTHER ROOM, EVEN IF IT’S AT A DIFFERENT HOTEL.”

By this point, MC had practically melted onto the floor, her head in her hands as she burned up and down in embarrassment. 

“I can’t do that Jumin, that hotel is owned by Zimmerlein and the chairman specifically invited the both of you to stay there! Do you know how offended he’d be if you turned down the offer?”

Jumin groaned, sounding genuinely upset, and he said,

“I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable... this is really unfair to her. Didn’t you think about that, father?”

MC bit her lip, opening the bathroom door a little to look out and say quietly,

“Mr. Han... it’s okay. I know you don’t want me to feel uncomfortable, but I’ll be fine. Knowing that you worry about it is enough for me.”

Jumin looked at her, not knowing what to say, his face still red, and then he nodded a little, turning back around. He then walked further down the hallways to talk to his father a little more, quieter this time. 

MC sighed and closed the bathroom door again, plugging in her blow dryer instead and beginning to work through her wet hair. It was a good excuse to be away from Jumin, who seemed too embarrassed to face her straight on at the moment, so she stayed in the bathroom until she was finished and her hair was dry. Then she unzipped the dress bag, curious as to what was inside it. Lying flat inside the bag it looked like it would be really pretty, a cute black cocktail dress, and she reminded herself that she needed to thank Mr. Han for it. It looked a little too fancy for just sitting in a hotel room though, she should have grabbed all the bags to find a better one. 

She pulled on the dress and zipped it up, only to find that it was actually not the cute dress that she had imagined it to be. It was much more revealing than she had originally thought. The sweetheart neckline was lower than she wanted and the poofy skirt much shorter than she preferred. She couldn’t look at herself straight in the mirror. 

She assumed that this is what happened when someone else tried to guess what clothes would fit on another human being, and had been mistaken horribly. 

That being said, with how well it fit her she wasn’t sure if this was entirely the case.

She wished that her suit was back from the laundry already.

MC quickly pulled her hair over her shoulders, trying to help with the low cut of the dress, aware that this left her back free as well, and she stepped out into the hallway nervously. All she needed to do was grab the other dress bags and find one that fit her better. 

“MC, I’m so sorry, I argued with him more but I don’t know if we have any other options-” Jumin stopped when he looked up at her, and her face burned even more. He looked away, back at his phone, and she walked nervously past him to the pile of dresses.

“Uh- um... That’s okay. I understand it was just a bad circumstance. You know, I’m perfectly fine sleeping on the couch if I’m going to make you feel uncomfortable-”

“Of course not- I- I wouldn’t allow a lady to sleep on a couch for my benefit, I’ll do it-”

“But I want you to have enough sleep, you’re too big to fit on that and sleep well, I’m smaller, you should let me do it-”

“No, that’s not important right now, I’ll be fine-”

“Please, it’ll be okay-” she stopped when she saw the dress that was inside the dress bag she had begun to unzip. If possible, this one looked worse than the one she was wearing.

“Oh nooo.... Please no...” she began moaning under her breath, opening the next one to find an equally revealing dress. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, standing up and coming over to see. 

“W-Well... my suitcase somehow got sent to the wrong airport... so y-your father had new clothes sent for me... but uh- I- well- they’re all lovely.” she clammed up, unable to tell him that his father had only sent clothes that she was uncomfortable with. 

“He sent this dress as well?” Jumin said, glancing at her again. 

“Y-Yes. My dress suit is at the cleaners now...” 

“I see.” 

“These are all dresses... I was looking for some pajamas or-” she lifted up the bottom dress bag to find a clear package underneath that and she immediately dropped the dresses over it, her face red. 

“I see.... So this is my father’s doing.” Jumin said, his tone icy. She was beginning to understand the situation a little better as well, but she knew neither of them wanted to address it outloud. She suddenly felt cloth against her shoulders however and looked at him in surprise as he put his suit coat over her, his eyes closed. 

“I’ll order different clothes for you right away. And don’t worry, my father will pay  _ for all of them. _ ”

She grit her teeth as he said this and he pulled out his phone, walking away from her so she couldn’t hear. She nervously uncovered the package again, picking it up to open it again. Inside were the lace underthings that she had already seen on top, but fortunately there was a nightgown too, one that she felt good about wearing. Slip was really a better name for it though, but it looked like something close to what she would normally wear to bed. There was a C&R tag on it, and she wondered if this was one of the things that they had exported once. It was long and white, with a shiny red satin ribbon to hold it in place, tied into a bow in the front. 

She could hear Jumin arguing from down the hallway with his father, and she tried her best not to eavesdrop for anything in particular. She glanced at the time.

It was definitely time for her to sleep, it was past midnight now but combined with the jetlag it was much later than that for her. All of her felt tired, her adrenaline rush of panic wearing off now. She walked past Jumin, trying to ignore the fact that he was now condemning his father for setting up the entire situation, and she slipped into the bathroom once more. She changed out of the dress and into the underwear and slip, sighing as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was going to be a very long week. Hopefully it would all just end well. 

Hopefully they’d be able to look at eachother in the eye even after all of this.

She took a deep breath and then went outside. Jumin was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. She exhaled, promising herself that everything would turn out fine in the end as long as she was practical and calm about it. That seemed to be the way to get to Jumin anyways, staying calm and logical. 

“Mr. Han, I want you to know that I am not angry or upset at all. I don’t think we have to worry about what anyone else wants or things like that. I trust you to be calm in a situation like this, and I hope you trust me to do the same. Please do not worry over this, just go to sleep and get some rest. We’ll figure out what to do tomorrow.” she said calmly, and he glanced up at her. He was still red faced. She knew that if the paparazzi could even glance at the situation for a split second they would all be losing their minds. 

“I’m sorry you had to be mixed up in all of this... I want to be honest with you about how this all happened and-”

“Jumin, I already understand. You don’t have to explain, and it’s not your fault.” she said, quietly, shaking her head. Then she stuttered quickly, “I- I mean Mr. Han.” 

“It’s alright... You can call me Jumin if you wish. I don’t care at this point really.” he said, scratching his scalp in an irritated sort of way. 

“Okay... you can call me by name too if you’d like. Oh! And here’s this. Thank you.” she said, handing his suit coat back to him. He nodded, taking it from her and draping it over the armchair. Then he mumbled something about changing and disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes as she crawled into the far side of the bed, sliding underneath the covers and turning away from the other side of the bed, curling into herself. If he still insisted on sleeping on the couch then she  _ was _ going to fight him. He looked more exhausted than she did right now, and she knew the jetlag was going to murder them for the next couple of days.

Once he came back out wearing his simple silk pajama suit, Jumin (thankfully) sat on the opposite side of the bed, reaching over and grabbing pillows one by one, making a wall down the middle of the bed. She couldn’t help but laugh, trying silence herself as she covered her mouth. She couldn’t tell if he was more worried about her being uncomfortable, or just terrified of her in general. She remembered reading some accusing gossip articles about him once, they seemed to lack any basis of fact in them for the point they were trying to make, but she did know that the only woman he was ever seen with was his head assistant. On the other hand, his father was like a feeding frenzy for the paparazzi every other month in regards to his personal relationships. Jumin Han was certainly an extremely private man. Now  _ she _ was the one who was worried about making him uncomfortable. 

She turned over, facing the wall of pillows, high enough that she couldn’t even see him, and she heard him lay down as well, silence filling the room.

The light was still on though and after a few minutes of her eyes starting to ache she asked hesitantly,

“Hey... Jumin? Could you... turn off the light please?”

She could hear his breathing pause for a moment, and she waited, feeling her stomach twist uncomfortably. Then he moved and the light clicked off, filling the room with darkness.

“Thank you... goodnight.” she mumbled, and she wasn’t sure if she heard him reply or not. It wasn’t long before she was falling asleep, grateful that they had until afternoon to be awake tomorrow and getting things done. She needed as much sleep as she could get. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day goes well, the second one starts off with Jumin a little worse for wear, but he'll probably pull himself together for the rest of the day. Maybe.  
> -  
> Uuuuaaaahhhhh man, I usually keep fanfiction to myself so I'm a little embarrassed about what I'm actually sharing with you all. >_>

Jumin always woke up early. The only times this changed was when he was suffering from jetlag like today, and even then he was able to deal with it fairly well. So of course he would wake up before her. The only problem was that he didn’t know what to do now. She looked exhausted, bags under her eyes, and a heavy deep sleep having taken her over. 

His wall of pillows had not helped much, it looked as though she had burrowed into them so much that they had now all fallen down around them. Now there was only one between her and him, and she was curled against it, half of her reaching over to cover him as well. 

When he’d woken up he’d thought it was Elizabeth the Third, but had groggily come to the conclusion that what had taken place last night was not a nightmare.

He couldn’t be mad at her in this situation. This was purely his father’s fault, not to mention his friend, the chairman of GoldStar as well. Jumin had finally gotten the truth out of him that the two chairmen and decided to set up their representatives for fun. According to his father, they had both agreed that MC and Jumin had clicked better than most when they’d met. His father seemed very disappointed by how outraged Jumin was, making Jumin even more angry. 

But now he had a different problem at the moment. If he moved her off of him, would he wake her up? She seemed so tired he really didn’t want to do that. 

After a few moments of shifting to test, and seeing her stir a little, dangerously on the verge of waking up, he decided to just stay put. 

He was irritated by the feeling of doing nothing, but laying in bed after he’d already woken up was something he hadn’t done in a very long time. He felt very unproductive. But yet, there wasn’t really much to do otherwise. Nothing would happen until after noon. Jumin let himself relax, closing his eyes again. If he tried he could pretend that the hand resting on his side was just Elizabeth the Third, and the breathing he heard was purring. Thinking of this made him feel better and he began to breathe more evenly, picturing his cat in his mind.

This dream was shattered though after a while, when he suddenly felt her stir and he quickly moved his leg when a foot brushed up against him. She made a noise, curling her hand around him tighter as she tensed up, before breathing out again, relaxing. He glanced at her, face still burning. He really should have slept on top of the blanket, not underneath. His stupid barricade of pillows didn’t work if they weren’t even technically between them, just sitting atop the covers. 

Her face was a little blotchy from sleep and being pressed against a pillow all night, and her hair was a messy. The slip was-

He burned more, looking away. 

It was one of those stupid slips they’d been exporting a few years ago... he hadn’t payed attention to it last night, but he could tell what it was now. He really wanted to punch his father for doing this to him. And more importantly, to her.

He glanced back at her again, and began to panic when he noticed that the ribbon holding the slip together was coming undone. If she moved anymore this would become a very dangerous situation.

He carefully moved his hands, reaching to the loose ribbon and pulling it tight into a bow once more, tugging on it gently to make sure it stayed put.

He glanced up after doing this and met her eyes, staring back at him in surprise. A small choking sound came out of his throat and he immediately pulled his hands away saying,

“Y-Your bow- it was- coming undone- I didn’t want it to- I was just-”

“Th-Thanks! H-hey what happened to the great wall of pillows?” she asked, her voice sleepy but still squeaky and shocked. 

“You... knocked it down.” 

It was then that she seemed to realize she was holding onto him and she quickly let go, pulling her arms back towards herself. Both of them rolled away from each other onto their backs, quiet again. 

They were quiet for a moment more until Jumin sighed and sat himself up in bed, propping himself up on his arm. 

“MC... I’m terribly sorry again for this mess. It’s really not fair. And I want you to have all the facts so that there’s no room for confusion.”

“...Okay...” she said nervously, glancing at him as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it close to herself. 

“My father is a romantic man, and it gets the best of him often. I love and respect him, but the one fault I find he has is how easily he is won over by women and how this can sometimes overstep my own boundaries as well.” 

“Mhmm?”

“And I’m afraid that this time he has not only overstepped my boundaries, but yours as well. For some reason he had the impression that I-” his eyes met hers and he immediately turned away, his face hot, “Th-That I enjoyed your company at the dinner party and- or! Oh- I mean, I did, that didn’t come out right, I meant-”

“I understand.”

“Alright, good, anyways-” his shaky fingers pushed his messy hair out of his eyes again as he stuttered, “I suppose he and your boss, you know how they’re old friends, I think they thought it would be a good joke to play on the both of us- I don’t really know what they thought would happen, I don’t know if they understood how truly angry I would be over it, and I don’t think they considered your feelings and-”

“I understand, I really do. But like I said last night, I don’t want you to worry over a silly joke that they played on us. They’re nowhere near us at the moment, it’s just us here. We can be smart and in control of this situation. If we’re both calm and respectful then there’s no reason for us to be embarrassed, alright? Because we’re in the same situation. Agreed?”

“Thank you... yes. That’s good. I really like you.” he sighed, nodding at her. Then he stopped and groaned a little, pressing his face into his hand. “Ugh, I keep saying such unhelpful things.” 

“It’s okay.” she laughed, making him swallow down a gulp that he tried to hide. She began scooting herself off the bed as she said, “I’m going to go change, and then we should lay out our plans for the rest of the trip, I like knowing what my schedule is going to be exactly.”

“Me too...” he murmured, and she hummed to herself with a frown as she thumbed through the dress bags again. 

“Oh that’s right, your clothes. We can buy some new ones today for you.” 

“That’s wonderful, but until then I need to wear something other than a slip with only a loose ribbon to hold it in place.” she said, and he pursed his lips tighter, nodding. She then sighed and picked up one of the bags, carrying it with her into the bathroom. 

Jumin didn’t really know what to do until then. He tapped his fingers on the bedspread, listening to the faint sounds of traffic outside the hotel room on the street below. After a few more minutes of that, he finally reached for his phone, considering asking Jaehee to send him a picture of Elizabeth the Third to make him feel better. 

He had wanted to take her on the trip, but then found out that the hotel had a strict no animals policy. Not wanting to offend the company, he had been forced to leave her behind. He hoped she was doing alright. 

He went onto the RFA chatroom to see what was going on there and found that it was a little dead that day, most of the members busy. Zen was the only one online, posting selfies of him jogging to an empty chat room. Jumin left before they could start arguing about something pointless, not in the mood for it today. 

He then started typing out that text concerning his cat to Jaehee before he heard MC’s footsteps in the hallway, making him look up. He was surprised at what she was wearing, it wasn’t nearly as revealing as the one last night. The whole top of the white dress reached up to her neck partly in flowery lace, and the skirt was long and flowy, down to her toes. He thought she looked very nice. 

“That looks nice on you, at least they all weren’t so bad.” he commented honestly, and she gave him a kind of grimace. “What’s wrong?” he asked her. 

“Uhh... nothing, you’re right, this is definitely better in... some ways.” she asked, moving over to her briefcase sitting on the table, her movements a little awkward as she continued to face him. She opened her briefcase, taking out her notes and planner along with a pen. She tripped on the hem of her skirt as she walked towards him however, and had to catch herself on the mattress, yelping a little. He moved to catch her as well, his hand steadying her shoulder. It was at this moment that he saw there was absolutely no back on the dress until about her hip line, and he cringed, pulling back his hand. 

“Umm... thanks.” she mumbled awkwardly, turning away from him again as she sat beside him, taking out the planner. 

He tried not to think about it too much as she began discussing the plans for the day with him, reading through the meetings they had and the other trips with the chairman of Zimmerlein where he wanted to show them around the town. After lunch it looked as though they wouldn’t get back to the hotel again until about midnight again. Hearing that just made him feel tired already, and he could hear it in her voice as well. 

“Well, I’ll take you dress shopping before lunch then, we should leave soon. I’ll call the hotel staff for breakfast.” he said, reaching for the phone. She finished making notes to her planner and then turned around, pushing it back into her bag. 

Jumin’s eyes widened as she turned her back towards him and he had to turn his head away, waiting for the staff to pick up. They did so and he messed up twice telling them his order, getting more flustered each time. He finally got the message through, and then excused himself to get ready.

When he came out again he found her dozing on the bed, obviously still suffering from the 8 hour jet lag, and she reminded him that he was extremely tired as well. Her eyes fluttered open a little when he came back in though and she smiled, raising up her arm to give him a thumbs up before letting it flop back down onto the bed. He was so caught off guard by this that he laughed, completely confused, and she shrugged with a smile. 

“You are easy to talk to, did you know that?” he sighed, sitting at the edge of the bed so he could put his shoes on. “Not only do you speak with intelligence, but you make conversation feel more human. I appreciate that.” he told her, and she mumbled a thank you to him, smiling as she closed her eyes.

The waiter came then with a tray full of food, and she sat up, yawning. Soon they were eating, and Jumin was glad to find that they slipped back to the way that they had been at dinner when they’d first met. She asked him about the RFA, hearing of the charity parties that he put on, and he found himself telling much more about it then he originally planned to, the words coming easy when she looked genuinely interested in what he had to say. They continued to talk about the other parts of their lives as they walked out to driver who was their escort for the evening, driving them to a nearby store where Jumin promptly helped her find a new collection of clothes, making careful note of how much it all cost so that he could be reimbursed by his father. 

He could tell she was uneasy about asking for dresses, or admitting which ones she preferred if they were expensive, and he continually had to remind her that she didn’t have to worry about it. He wanted to spoil her now, if it could somehow make up for the awful situation she’d been thrown into then he’d spend as much money as he liked on her. Or rather he would let his father spend as much money as Jumin would like on her. 

She seemed to breathe easier once she had on a new dress, and he too didn’t feel as jumpy now that when he brushed her back to lead her, it wasn’t skin but cloth that he touched. 

It was at this time that Jumin discovered something new about her, as they were shopping together. After finding various dresses she then walked over to the nearest attendant and asked them in perfect German where she could find pajamas. As they followed the employee, Jumin came up behind her saying,

“You can speak German? I’ve had a translator with us the whole time, and I had no idea...” She looked back at him and laughed lightly,

“Of course! Why did you think they chose me to come on this business trip?”

“I... I thought it was because...” he started to feel a little flustered, and he didn’t know why. “Because you’re so good at talking. People will always listen to you...” he finished, and she smiled wider.

“Thank you. Maybe that is part of it... But yes, I’ve studied German for a long time now.” She turned around again, facing the employee who was now showing her different pajamas and nightgowns. She turned around holding up the different outfits and asking him which one he preferred, which he answered honestly and thoughtfully. 

“I think the pink one is made of a softer fabric, which would make it more comfortable for sleeping in, which should be the main function of pajamas anyways.” he said, feeling the fabric that she had handed to him. She laughed at him, and he frowned in confusion, asking her what was funny.

“You’re such a scientist about things.”

“My friend says something similar quite often...” 

The employee said something after this to MC, motioning over to the lingerie section, and the girl immediately responded in flustered German, shaking her head quickly. Jumin decided to excuse himself then, stepping away from the situation until she was finished shopping.

After a change of outfits, he had the driver take them to lunch where they would meet the chairman of Zimmerlein. She was worried at first about wearing a dress instead of a business suit, but he reassured her that she looked fine, and they both met the man with confidence and success. The rest of the day was long, and from business meeting to business meeting they traveled, reaching the point where they forgot about the hotel mix up, focusing instead on the job they went there for. The one thing that distracted Jumin still was her skill with the German language and how easily she carried on the conversation with the chairman, without completely excluding Jumin. It was impressive how well she could balance a conversation between them all efficiently and effectively, and his admiration for her talents was only growing from this.

The sightseeing with the chairman was entertaining as well, and Jumin tried to take photos with his phone, all of them turning out blurry, so he had her take a couple instead, even letting her take some selfies with him and the scenery in the background. When they traveled from different places he would upload the pictures onto the RFA chatroom, and ignore the inquisitions about who MC was and why she was there with him. If he ever did answer their questions he would simply say, ‘coworker’.

It was very late at night when they finally reached the hotel room again, both of them suffering the effects of jetlag and exhaustion, and after changing into pajamas they both collapsed into bed, no attempt at a pillow wall this time around.

 

\---

 

This was the second time that she woke up in Jumin’s arms. Except for it was the middle of the night. He was asleep and for some reason she had woken up, finding herself in a darkened room. She assumed it was probably her who kept gravitating towards him, since she often had a lot of pillows supporting her head and neck, so she assumed that’s why it was so easy for her to burrow into the nearest support. However, she knew that it wasn’t due to her that he was curled around her, his arms circling her. It was worse than the first night, the wall of pillows had probably just staved off this. But them being so tired a few hours ago had stopped them from taking that precaution. 

She closed her eyes again, feeling his even breath on her neck, and for a moment she just let herself relax. Was she embarrassed? Yes. Definitely.

Should she carefully move away from him? Probably.

Was she going to do that? No. No she wasn’t. 

A large portion of her mind was yelling at her to move over, but her exhaustion was winning over. This was perhaps, the coziest that she had ever felt. 

She knew she had bad judgement when she was sleepy. All reason went out the window. She laughed in her head, and only moved a little closer, curling up tighter against him. 

 

\----

 

Jumin opened his eyes lazily to see her in front of him, her fingers entwined with his own, and her body pulled close against his. He reached up, feeling as though he was in a trance, and pushed back the hair from her face, his fingers traveling down her cheek. She opened her eyes slowly then, looking back at him, and then she gave him one of those heart warming smiles. 

He moved forward, kissing her, and she only smiled against his lips, letting him go deeper and deeper, the blanket sliding off as he moved over her. His kisses went from her mouth down to her jaw, before he began nosing into her neck gently. He smoothed his hands down her arms before finding her wrists, pinning her down beneath him. Then he began biting lightly at her skin so that she would gasp, her body tensing beneath his, legs twisting slowly against his own. He moved her hands above her head, holding her wrists with one hand and then using his free one to reach down, finding the ribbon of the slip at her chest and giving it a tug, letting it slide from place-

And then he really woke up.

He was early of course, waking her up almost immediately after as he tried to detach himself quickly from the girl curled against him, a lot closer to her than he had expected to be. He regretted moving so quickly when he heard her moan quietly into the pillow, obviously still tired. He grit his teeth and carefully pulled up the covers around her, smoothing them down so that she looked comfy again.

She responded to this by burrowing sleepily down into her blankets and pillows more, and he got out of bed, trembling all over as he left quickly to take a shower. If he stayed any longer next to her then he was worried he wouldn’t stop staring at her, and he would never be able to get ahold of himself. Looking at her made him want to lie back down and sleep for another hour, she looked so comfortable. It had been so warm when he’d woken up, and his heart thumped painfully after being taken away from the cozy situation so quickly. It also thumped from the intensity of his dream. What in the world had that been? Definitely a nightmare, that’s what it was.

When he finished showering and went back, fully ready for the day now, he found her still asleep, her hair a mess and her cheeks rosy from sleep. He cleared his throat, trying to speak normally as he asked her,

“Miss MC, what would you like for breakfast?” 

He had to ask again before her eyes sleepily opened, looking up at him and saying,

“Anything...” 

He sighed, turning away to go put in a breakfast order. He was proud of himself for being able to stay this calm after all of  _ that. _ She sat up in bed, yawning and stretching her arms. 

“Did you sleep well enough Jumin? It was an exhausting day yesterday.” 

“I’m fine.” he said through his teeth, having to look away again as she stretched. She was too cute to look at straight right now, and he kept imagining what she had felt like in his dream. The details were slipping away, but he could remember enough of it unfortunately.

He fixed his tie, setting down his phone as he said calmly,

“Well there should be sushi for breakfast here soon. What is it that we have to do today? What is the schedule?”

“It’s the completely free day, we can spend it however you’d like!” she said brightly. His face burned even more and he had to turn around, fixing ‘loose’ papers as he said nervously,

“W-We should do what you’d like. I get to travel all the time, it’s your turn.” 

“Alright! That’s really considerate of you, thank you Jumin. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun.” she said, and he nodded, keeping his face turned from her still. Then she continued on, saying a little shyly, “I mean... we don’t have to stay together. We can do separate things too. You probably want to be away from me for once haha.” 

He promptly turned on his heel, looking at her as he shook his head quickly. 

“N-No! Of course I’d love to spend it with you, I told you that I enjoy your company, didn’t I? I’m sure we’ll have a productive day together.”

“Oh... thank you. But let’s try more for relaxing and fun than productive, shall we?” she laughed, and he could only, nod, turning away once more. She climbed out of bed, walking past him into the bathroom, stopping by the closet beforehand. 

Breakfast came while she was getting ready, and he waited for her to arrive before he started eating, pulling out his phone and checking the RFA messenger to pass the time. 

\--

 

Jaehee: Your cat is fine, she’s just leaving hair all over the office as per usual. I’m sure she misses you, she meows a lot.

Jumin: She must be sad, I don’t usually leave for this long. :’( 

Zen: it’s not your wife or something, it’s your cat -_-

707: Animals can have strong attachments too, Zen!!!

Jumin: He’s right. I’m amazed even Luciel knows something right about cats for once.

707: TT^TT my poor sweet Elly... so lonely... My heart is br e a kin g  </3

Jumin: Assistant Kang, make sure every employee had their identity double checked before entering the office, he’s not going to set one finger on her.

Jaehee: Thanks a lot for the extra work Luciel, your the best. -_-

707: Yes! I! Am!!!!

Yoosung: This really is a long business trip for you though, isn’t it Jumin? What are you doing today?

Jumin: Today is the one free day, I’m supposed to relax. I was worried about being bored today when I heard about it though...

Yoosung: What changed your mind?

Jumin: ???

Zen: You said you WERE worried about being bored, what are you looking forward to now?

Jumin: ....did I type that? 

Zen: Dude- are you even awake right now??? -_-

Jumin: I’m very awake.

Yoosung: What are you going to do by yourself all day?

Jumin: I’m... not by myself.

Zen: Who are you with? Who is this unfortunate soul who has to deal with you all day?

Jumin: It would be their choice on what their attitude would be, no matter who they were with, wouldn’t it?

Jaehee: Oh, you’re spending it with Miss MC, correct?

Zen: ????!!!!

Jumin: Yes

Yoosung: Who’s that?

Zen: it’s a GIRL who has to deal with you all day??!!! I feel even worse for her! DX

Jumin: You don’t even know anything about her.

707: Oh!!!! Is it the mystery girl from yesterday’s pictures???

Jaehee: Miss MC is the representative of one of our partner companies in the deal Mr. Han is making this week. They both traveled to Germany and are going to be working on the deal all week. She is an impressively competent worker, I admired her charming atmosphere when I met her. 

Jumin: She is very skilled, and a good choice for a representative of the company. If she worked for C&R I would consider her a very valued employee.

Zen: Charming atmosphere? Even Jumin is impressed? But Jumin and women are like oil and water, this is weird.

Jumin: Oil and water?....

Zen: What does she look like? She was too far away to see in those pictures last night, I want to see who managed to impress Jumin Han, the walking iceberg.

Jumin: I don’t want to invade her privacy by posting photos

707: SHE’S SUPER CUTE <3 <3 <3

707: (added photo)

707: (added photo)

707: (added photo)

Yoosung: !!!!

Yoosung: She looks so kind!

Zen: TT^TT she’s too pretty to be hanging out with Jumin all day, this isn’t fair. 

Jumin: ....

Jaehee: Mr. Han, wasn’t there a mix up with your rooms though? You never told me what happened.

Jaehee: Where did you end up going???

Jumin:  _ Assistant Kang I would rather not talk about that anymore, the situation is under control, that’s all you need to know. _

Jaehee: :::: ?????

Jaehee: It sounded rather awful over the phone, are you sure everything is okay?

Jumin:  _ Everything is fine. _

Zen: What happened?????

707: Mixup with rooms??!!! OOH, PERHAPS JUMIN SAW SOMETHING HE SHOULDN’T HAVE SEEN? AND NOW HE IS ON THE RUN??!!

707: ON THE RUN FROM CRIMINALS WHO WANT TO SILENCE HIM BEFORE HE BLABBERS???!!!!

Yoosung: ??!!! 

Yoosung: Do you think that could be it?!

Zen: I doubt it.... I hope;;;

Jumin: I am not in danger. -_-

Jaehee: I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I hope the rest of your week goes well Mr. Han, I should be getting back to work now.

Jumin: Goodbye. 

\--- Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom ---

Zen: When are you meeting up with that girl?

Jumin: She’s already with me, she’s getting ready in the bathroom right now. We’re about to have breakfast.

Zen: ....

707: O_O

Yoosung: Oh, what are you having?

Jumin: Sushi. 

Zen: SHE’S GETTING READY RIGHT NOW? THAT MAKES IT SOUND LIKE YOU WERE WITH HER WHEN SHE WOKE UP.

Jumin: .....

Jumin: She’s back, goodbye.

\----- Jumin Han has left the chatroom ----

Zen: WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF

  
  


\---

 

Jumin sighed painfully, tucking his phone back into his pocket. He shouldn’t have started to talk about what he was doing, now he was just going to be harrassed by them for the next millenia. 

“Oh, you didn’t have to wait for me!” came her voice as she came around the corner, looking very different now. He just stared at her for a moment. She had been the one to pick out her replacement clothes yesterday, but he’d been ready to tell her his opinion on all of them and even suggest some. This was the dress he was especially fond of. It was long and flowy, with soft watercolor flower prints on the chiffon fabric that did a much better job of covering her chest and arms than the ones his father had picked out.  

It was in this moment, her hair wavy and down, soft makeup, and a new dress, that he thought she looked more stunning than she had in all the other dresses. To be honest, her sleepy expression of the morning had been so down to earth that he loved it, but there was no denying that she looked incredibly beautiful right now in front of him. 

“I wanted to wait for you... you look very pretty.” he added the last part, never feeling quite as nervous as this to tell the truth. Her cheeks went a little pink and this and she ducked her head a little with a smile.

“Thank you... that’s really kind of you to say. Thank you for helping me pick out clothes yesterday! You have a better sense of fashion than I expected a business man to have.” she laughed, and he smiled a little.

“I know what compliments a person best... it fascinates me how much a well kept look can influence decisions made.”

“That’s cool... I just like to buy clothes that I like.” she said, shrugging. 

“Enjoying what you wear is also important. Confidence is key.” he said, nodding his head at her. She sat beside him, picking up the wooden chopsticks and breaking them in half.

After a moment of eating quietly she set down her chopsticks and asked him,

“Hey Jumin, I’m sorry if I was overcrowding you last night, I usually sleep with a lot of blankets and pillows because I get cold, so I didn’t mean to hang onto you so much-”

“It’s fine.” he said quietly, keeping his eyes down, concentrating on his food.

“Okay...”

They finished breakfast and then she pulled out a map, asking him about landmarks he wanted to see, or foods he wanted to try. His nervousness began to ebb away the more they talked, and he felt more and more excited to go traveling with her. However there was still one worry on his mind.

“I do have to warn you... MC. We may have to act inconspicuous on our trip today, as the paparazzi will literally follow me wherever I go, and I don’t want them to overcrowd us today. It  _ will _ be worse if you’re with me, I’m just giving you warning now.”

“Alright... Why do they follow you so much? You’re a businessman, not an actor.” she asked, and he replied dryly,

“I am one of the richest and youngest businessmen in Korea, who also happens to be single.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” she said, shrugging her shoulders. 

“It’s not very fun.”

“It doesn’t look like it, judging by all those silly articles about you online.” she said, and he nodded, looking away with an expression of utter annoyance. “They probably wouldn’t follow you around so much if you weren’t so handsome.” she then added with a laugh and he looked back at her again, his eyebrows raised. She turned pink and bent over the map again, mumbling to herself about where they should go. After looking at the map for a few minutes she looked up saying,

“You know, I’ve been to Germany a lot of times before... and I really love it. Have you come here before?”

“Yes... I’ve been to many places for work.”

“Okay... well, I’ve traveled around Germany a lot but... I’ve never gone to Paris.”

“Really?” he had to smile at the excitement in her expression.

“Yeah! And it’s not that far away by train since we’re near the French border right now, and we could avoid the paparazzi if you’re not in the country they assume you’re in!”

“Alright then, we should head out soon then so we can spend as much time as we can before we have to return.” he said, and she grinned at him, looking even more excited. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jumin has a good day but almost slips up near the end. V is a good friend, and I want him to be happy too, but unfortunately this story is not about him. 

“How many times have you been to Paris?” she asked him as they moved through the Paris subway, about to go above ground to the city. Jumin still had his bodyguards with them but they were standing aways away, only keeping a watch on the two who luckily had not been followed by the paparazzi. 

“Six... I believe.” he said, his mental calculator running constantly in his brain. 

“Oh... You sound like an expert. Are you fluent as well?” she joked, sounding a little nervous still. 

“ _ No, but I can speak a little _ .” he spoke in French, trying to hide his smile. Her face lit up and she said,

“That’s so cool! I only know how to say everyday phrases and words in French. I guess you’ll have to be my tour guide then.”

“Well I have to tell you, I haven’t spent very much time sightseeing in Paris. I was usually stuck in meetings while I was here. But the city is so old it’s impossible to go anywhere without being somewhat of a tourist.” he admitted, a little worried that he wouldn’t be able to give her a good experience while she was here.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s... just another place to me. I can appreciate that it’s a beautiful place but... it just feels like another city to me.” Jumin said honestly, his voice growing quieter as they climbed up the metro stairs together. 

“Maybe you just need a chance to make good memories with it then... We’ll have fun today, alright? So just try to enjoy it, maybe you’ll get more attached.” she said, looking at him in the eyes as she grinned. He tightened his fingers to the inside of his palms, staring back at her. 

If there was anything he was starting to get attached to, he didn’t think it was the city.

They came up out of the metro together, into the gray rainy air that was the weather of Paris that day, clouds hanging in the sky but the air still warm against their skin. She was smiling so wide as she looked around, walking forward aimlessly until he walked a little faster so he could catch up and begin leading her in the correct direction, holding her arm gently. 

“Oh!!! It’s so big!” she gasped when she finally noticed the Eiffel Tower that he was leading her to as they walked across the Trocadero Plaza, and he continued to lead her away from the people trying to aggressively sell knock off landmark trinkets for money. 

They walked across for a while, talking as they grew closer to the tower about different places that they had been and where they still wanted to go someday. Jumin did enjoy seeing new places when he went on business trips, but those moments of enjoyment were usually spent from him looking out a hotel window at the end of the day, or taking a walk through a garden. This kind of tourism wasn’t something he was particularly used to, and he wasn’t really sure whether he would have enjoyed it if he had been alone. Seeing her so excited about everything was enough to make him enjoy himself too. Once they got closer to the tower she excitedly ran up to one of the bases of the legs, her mouth wide open as she looked at it and then up at the top of the tower in the sky. 

“It’s just... so much bigger than I thought it was going to be. Have you ever gone somewhere and seen a famous landmark... and you are surprised by how much smaller it was than what you imagined?” she asked him, and all he could do was smile back at her a little, shrugging lightly. “Well... this is the first time that something I imagined was bigger in reality... It’s almost frightening.” she breathed, her neck still craned up to the sky. 

“I’m sorry we had to come on a cloudy day...” Jumin said, noticing that it was hard to even see the top of the tower in the foggy rain clouds above them.

“Oh, I think it’s beautiful! It feels cool but not cold... and when things are gray the grass always looks greener, don’t you think?” she asked, and he turned around, glancing at the gardens they had walked past earlier. 

“I suppose... you’re right about that.” he mumbled quietly, interested. Then she took him by surprise when she linked arms with him, pulling him towards the closest edge of the river Seine that they could reach from where they were, pointing at the boats and asking him if he wanted to go with her on one.

It wasn’t too long until they had boarded a boat and she took lots of pictures of the view, many of him too. He didn’t know what to do as she snapped photos, so he was worried his expression in all of them looked either bored or in discomfort when he was really enjoying himself in reality. She showed him the photos as the tour boat sailed slowly down the river, deleting a few but generally commenting on how his black hair looked nice against the greyish background.

They passed by many landmarks and took pictures as they went, sometimes hopping off the boat to explore new parts of the city before they reboarded when the next boat came. Notre Dame was one of Jumin’s favorite places that they went, intrigued by the detail and symmetry of the building, both in the art of the windows and the architecture itself. She got him to smile beside the building as she took photos, taking some selfies with him as well. 

She nearly forgot to eat she was so excited to move onto the next landmarks, but thankfully Jumin’s internal clock made sure that they took a break, taking her to a restaurant. 

As soon as they sat down she seemed to relax a little from her excited state, sighing as she picked up a menu. 

“Jumin, how much of this menu can you understand.”

“It’s more that I’ve had the food before so I know what it is, rather than me actually understanding what the words mean.” 

“That’s fair.” she scanned down the menu, looking very unsure. After a few more moments of her frowning at the menu and trying to decipher what things were he leaned over and pointed to some of his favorites, explaining what they were. She ended up getting the same thing he was, saying that she was willing to try anything that he thought was good. 

“Today has been really fun so far... I almost forgot that we’re on a business trip.” she said, and he smiled.

“It has been fun. I would love to travel with you again MC, you make it a lot more enjoyable.” he said, and she blushed. “I didn’t realize how entertaining it is to see others experience things that you yourself have become used to. It’s like sharing, isn’t it?” he continued, and she nodded lightly. 

“I’ve probably looked like an excited kid all day, or a very typical tourist.” she sighed, and he shook his head.

“I thought you looked like someone who was just thoroughly enjoying life.”

He wanted to tell her that she looked beautiful as well, and that he would do anything to experience the joy that she was feeling. But he felt a little uneasy doing that. This wasn’t a date after all, this was a free day on a business trip. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

“Thank you for coming here with me. I actually like traveling alone a lot... I feel like I can express myself more honestly, where as if I’m with others I have to hold myself back. But for some reason... I don’t feel that pressure from you. So thank you Jumin.” she said politely, and it was his turn to look away a little, feeling embarrassed. He wasn’t even sure why. In fact, this whole business trip had been near infuriating so far just because he couldn’t always count on his ability to control his emotions. And now she was the one telling him that she felt comfortable around him? When had been the last time a woman, or rather, literally anyone had told him that they felt comfortable around him? Besides his father and V, the two people in this world closest to him, he didn’t know if the had ever met someone like this. To be honest, he felt a little terrified. 

Those bonds of friendship and trust had taken years to build and to prove faithful, and yet here he was with this girl after maybe three days, and he already felt as though she was becoming close to him as well. He had no real reason to trust her, no real reason to enjoy her company this much, but still  _ he did _ and he had no idea how to convince himself logically of that fact. He couldn’t wrap his mind around why this was different, and he was scared of it.

“Jumin? Do you know how I’m supposed to eat this? I don’t know which fork to use...” came her voice, interrupting his anxious thoughts and he saw her looking uneasily down at the plate of foreign food set before her. Her expression was so sweet he couldn’t help but smile and feel his emotions calm, and he began explaining how to properly eat the food in front of her.

 

It was closer to the end of the day when they hit their last landmark, the Arc de Triomphe. The sky was growing darker and cloudier as they entered the tower and began the  _ very  _ long climb up the circular staircase. She had to pause after a few minutes of climbing, catching her breath as he waited patiently beside her, the bodyguards not very far behind as well. 

“This is... a very long walk... I can’t even see up to the top!” she gasped, leaning over the railing to look up and down the long tube of curling staircase. 

“We only have 165 steps left to take.” Jumin stated calmly, and she frowned, looking at him in confusion.

“What?”

“I’ve been counting. We have 165 steps left, there are 284 steps in the Arc de Triomphe and-”

“Why do you know that???” she asked him, still trying to catch her breath as she laughed.

“I guess someone told me once and I remembered. I’m sorry we didn’t take the elevator.”

“No- no it’s okay! I wanted to climb up all the way, I’ll feel more accomplished that way!” she said, beginning to walk again and he followed en suite. She nearly missed a step once and he came behind her immediately, hooking arms with her, and helping support her as they continued to climb. They took a break at the mid section, going into the gift shop where the crowds bustled around, looking at the souvenirs on display. She continued to keep her arm linked around his as they walked around the shop, and she declined whenever he asked if she wanted to buy something.

“You’ve been spending money on me all day long, I’m fine.” she laughed, and he raised his eyebrows at her saying,

“It really hasn’t been that much, don’t you want something to remember the city by?”

“Umm... I think I’ll remember this day well enough thanks to you.” she said, her voice timid as she looked at him. He swallowed, ducking his head in a kind of half nod before pulling her away. As they were leaving the shop she continued on saying,

“Also, look at my dress! No pockets. I can’t get anything.”

“I can hold things for you, my jacket has lots of pockets.” he said with a frown, “And why didn’t you grab a jacket before we left, it’s not a sunny day!” 

“I’m fine! It’s still warm!” she laughed, pulling him towards the stairs again.

They made it up to the top of the tower and she began grinning again, holding onto the edge of the arch as Paris spread out from them like a star, the lights of the city beginning to turn on now as the night came. 

“Smile!” she said, catching him by surprise as he was looking out at the view, and she caught him with a wide eyed look instead. Then she turned around, trying to get both of them in the shot, taking a few pictures, making faces in a few of them. He did begin to smile as he watched her, and then he was surprised as she called over the body guards who awkwardly walked over as well.

“Aaand here’s a group photo!” she laughed, trying to get all of them in. “Make a funny face! Jumin, that’s great, it looks like you just ate a lemon.”

Once she was done he stood beside her again asking quietly,

“Are you trying to tease me?”

“Maybe.” she said slyly, smirking as she looked through the past photos. He looked away, pursing his lips tightly as he huffed. As he looked around however, he unfortunately found that most of the other people on top of the arch were couples, standing close and talking or kissing. He looked forward again, his fingers twitching uncomfortably. He wondered if he was the only one feeling the suffocating pressure around them, or if she was feeling it as well. 

“Oh this is a really good picture of you.” she said quietly, holding up her phone. He leaned down, looking at the picture to see it of him smiling and pointing at a bird that was a few inches from him, sitting unafraid on top of a fence. 

“Hmm.” he smiled at the picture, now becoming aware of how close they were now. He knew that she noticed it too as she nervously chewed on her lip, continuing to hold up her phone. If she moved it away, they both knew that they’d break away again, so she held it steady, keeping them frozen in place. 

“Do you... do you think I really should have gotten something to remember the city by?” she asked quietly, and he met her eyes, not knowing what to say. 

Then it seemed as if his brain went into a shut down mode, completely out of his momentary control as he moved his face closer to hers, the warmth of their breath hovering in the cool air between them as the space grew smaller. 

And then a raindrop hit him in the nose, making him jump. They pulled back from each other immediately, looking up into the sky as more fat raindrops fell onto them, hitting the stone of the archway with loud slapping noises as their intensity grew. 

He instantly took her arm, leading her back inside as he said, his voice strained,

“It’s dangerous to be up here this high in a rainstorm, lets go.” 

“A-Alright!” 

They didn’t link arms again, but he did keep a firm grasp on her arm as they walked and rode the metro all the way back to the train, as if he would lose her if he let go. 

They didn’t talk much, getting onto the train and sitting down, keeping their eyes away from each other. She thanked him again for the trip and he nodded silently. 

Jumin was watching the scenery pass outside the window as the train sped along, and was only interrupted when he felt something fall against his arm. He turned his head to see her, eyes closed as she leaned against him, breathing slow as she slept. He was almost over his own jet lag now, but he could see now how much she’d been fighting it off during the day. Now that the adrenaline of the trip was over for her she was probably crashing. 

He sighed, a little shaky, and turned his head to look out the window again, hoping that whatever happened from here on out was not as confusing as today had been. He didn’t know when his heart would stop thumping against his chest. 

It had been like that all day.

 

\---

 

She could barely remember getting off the train and into a car, she kept going in and out of consciousness. She could feel Jumin’s hand supporting her, helping her from place to place, and she continued to lean against him, feeling shaky on her feet. She did start to wake up a little more when they reached the hotel room, and she got ready for bed. 

When Jumin came back from the bathroom, ready as well, he found her sitting at the table, mumbling over some papers and notes that she had, organizing them in her binder. 

“What are you doing? You need to go to sleep.” he asked her, looking as her head drooped sleepily before she brought it up again, rubbing her eyes.

“I just... I wanted to get ready... tomorrow is the big day so... my papers... sleep.” she mumbled, and he shook his head, taking her by the hand and leading her to the bed instead. She crawled under the covers without much coaxing, taking the pillow that he handed her and hugging it to herself, mumbling a thank you or goodnight, he wasn’t completely sure. 

She was already asleep by the time that he crossed the room to the light, turning it off. He wasn’t ready to sleep yet however, he too had things that he wanted to go over before bed, and he spent a few minutes with the desk lamp on, looking over papers and making sure everything was where it should be. He wasn’t sure if he could sleep unless he knew it was all going to be there waiting in the morning where he needed it to be. As he was going over papers his phone rang and he glanced at it, not planning on answering this late at night really. When he saw the name however he immediately picked up saying,

“V? What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong Jumin, why would you assume that?” came a light laugh on the other end of the phone and he sighed, relaxing back into his chair.

“Well you never call me anymore you know... You seem to only check in on the chatroom once a month or so. I’m beginning to equate you contacting me to there being an emergency with how scarce your calls are.” he said, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to calm himself.

“I know... I’m sorry. I just haven’t spoken to you in a while, I was wondering how you were doing.” 

“Well... to be honest, I’m not sure how I’m doing.” Jumin answered after a moment, his voice sounding even more tired than he expected himself to sound.

“What’s wrong? Jaehee said you’re on a business trip right now, is the deal not going well?”

“No, no, it’s going fine... I just... have had an unhappy situation thrust onto me thanks to my father.”

“Oh that doesn’t sound good. The only thing you two seem to argue about is his love life, what’s going on?”

“It isn’t that this time actually, though the subject isn’t too far off.” he sighed, standing up from his chair as he paced around the room quietly, glancing over at MC who was still asleep, her soft breathing becoming almost like white noise to him at this point, it fitting into the hotel’s atmosphere so well. 

Jumin explained his situation quietly to V, keeping his eyes on her the whole time as he spoke, and listening to the worried exclamations of his friend on the other end. 

“The biggest problem that I have now though is that I can’t get a hold of myself when she gets too close, or when she smiles at me sometimes. I feel like I’m going crazy, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t have worries about the deal with the companies, but I do have a worry about me being able to make it through this without doing something stupid.” Jumin added after he finished his story, and he waited to hear what his friend had to say. To his surprise, V began laughing on the other end, and Jumin narrowed his eyes. 

“Something stupid? What exactly do you mean by that Jumin? It sounds to me as if...”

“As if what?” Jumin asked him, unable to hide the iciness of his tone.

“Well.... at the risk of you becoming furious with me, it seems to me that you like her.”

“Weren’t you listening V? I do like her, she’s one of the best employees I’ve ever had the chance to work with.”

“Don’t be so stubborn Jumin, you know what I mean.” V sighed, and Jumin couldn’t help but blush now.

“Fine, I do understand what you mean, but can you honestly believe that yourself? I barely know her, and I have no reason to trust her to the point of  _ anything like that _ .”

“Like what? Jumin, even we were strangers when we first met as kids, but we trust each other now, don’t we?” V asked, and Jumin curled his fist in frustration.

“I know, okay? I know that’s how trust is slowly built- but honestly-” he began talking faster and faster, feeling his heart thump harder now, “the few days that I’ve been spending with her still doesn’t feel like a sufficient amount of time to reach the point of wanting to kiss someone or-”

“Kiss?! Did you kiss her Jumin?” V laughed, sounding amazed, and Jumin sucked in air, lowering his voice again as he hissed,

“Of course not- it was just an example- I didn’t-”

“Jumin, calm down, this is scary.” V said, his voice still shaking with a laugh, and Jumin buried his face into his hand, his skin burning. “Look Jumin, I know you sometimes don’t handle emotions very tactfully when you get very upset in unfamiliar situations, and I know you’re even worse when it comes to others and their own emotions. So please just make sure that you don’t set off a mental time bomb while you’re on this trip, alright? I don’t want the next time we talk to be me consoling you over a bad decision. Just stay calm and be yourself. She sounds nice enough that you shouldn’t be so worried about her. She’s not going to hurt you, she sounds like a good friend already.” 

Neither of them said anything for a moment, and for a moment Jumin wondered if V had lost connection, which often happened while he was on the phone. But before he could ask him if he was still there, V’s voice asked him quietly,

“Is she pretty too Jumin?”

He waited a moment before answering back,

“....Yes. She’s beautiful. When she smiles at me I..” he paused, the words difficult for him to say. “I feel like the threads inside me become a little untangled.”

“Threads?”

“I guess I never told you about that... never mind.”

“Hey, you haven’t been drinking wine by chance, have you? You seem to only talk like this when you’ve been drinking.” 

“No, I only had a little at dinner, I  _ wish _ I had some wine right now though...” Jumin said, his voice slipping into a moan again as he pressed his face down against his forearm.

“Tsk Tsk, don’t turn to that stuff for a solution to problems Jumin, you be careful.”

“I know, you’ll never let me forget.”

“I’m glad you know that.” 

Jumin smiled, glad to be talking to his friend again, though he was still feeling the ache inside him that reminded him of how much he missed him. 

“I should be getting to bed now... but thank you for calling, V.” he said quietly, and V replied happily,

“Of course. I’ll try to do it more often... again, I’m sorry for being so out of touch. Have a nice night Jumin.”

“You too.”

After they’d hung up, Jumin sighed, setting the phone down on the table as he walked back over to the bed, looking at the girl who was still sleeping peacefully, holding her pillow close to her. Then he made himself look away from her, swallowing the lump in his throat as he again felt a little funny. He gently stacked pillows between them again, not really wanting a repeat of last night, and then he fell asleep, his eyes heavy and his mind still buzzing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT'S TIME.
> 
> -
> 
> Dang, I can't believe I'm sharing all this kissing with you. You have to understand, the reason I'm nervous is because I keep my main blog and all my fanfiction SQUEAKY CLEAN! So intense kissing is harder for me to suddenly pull out of nowhere.... I'm afraid of shocking people who follow me, LOL.  
> But anyways, enjoy.

She woke up to an empty room, surprised to find that for once she was exactly where she’d fallen asleep, no movement at all, a pillow still in her arms. She scooted off the bed, wondering where Jumin was, when the bathroom door opened down the hallway. He was still in his pajamas when he appeared, but his head was drenched in water, his hair dripping and hanging in his eyes.

“Hey Jumin... good morning.” She said, a little unsure of how to react. He blinked at her and then nodded, turning back around to disappear again. Breakfast came while she was starting to sort papers and she waited for him to come back, which he did after a few minutes, his hair combed back and still wet. 

“Are you.... okay?” She asked, and he coughed, clearing his throat as he nodded.They started to eat breakfast and she asked after a moment, 

“Are you nervous or something?” He quickly shook his head, continuing to look away from her.

“....What’s wrong then-“

“I just had a... a bad dream. I still feel anxious that’s all, I was trying to wake myself up.” he said coldly, and she nodded, a little nervous due to his tone. 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” She said quietly, bending over her food and continuing to eat. There was something definitely off about him this morning.

“Are you ready for today?” She asked, and he nodded, still looking at his food which he was eating quickly. She waited a few more moments of silence before she said, 

“Hey, the wall of pillows worked! I didn’t annoy you during the night, right?” She laughed and he choked on the water he was drinking, standing up and excusing himself again to go shower. She sighed, finishing her food and then getting dressed in her business dress suit. She hoped that he would feel better soon, since today was the day that they either made the deal or not. It was crucial for them both to be at their best. 

She had wanted to ask him about his dream, since it always helped her to talk nightmares through with others, but he had been so avoidant of the topic that she decided to leave it alone. He came back out after a bit, dressed but still with messy hair, and she tried to be positive for him.

“I’m sure the meeting will go over really well. Our first meeting felt successful to me.” she said, and he continued with his silent nodding. At this point she decided there was nothing else she could do to coax anything more out of him, so she went to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.

He came in as well, combing his hair beside her, the two of them avoiding eye contact. But then she grabbed the two different tubes of lipstick that she had and held them up saying,

“What do you think Jumin? Which shade is better?” There was a more nude pink color and then a deep red one, and she knew that he would most likely pick the duller of the two for the sake of professionalism. She just really wanted an excuse to get some kind of words out of him, she was starting to worry that this nervousness was reaching over from yesterday’s trip. 

“Umm...” he hummed quietly, glancing down at the two colors, and then back up at her. He then tapped his finger on the red one, surprising her, and he turned back around as he fixed his hair. 

“O-Oh! I didn’t think... yeah that is a pretty shade, you’re right.” she said nervously, bending a little closer to the mirror as she applied it.

She got a smile out of him when she made a face after finishing the lipstick, and he shook his head, muttering about unprofessionalism. 

“Would you like some too?” she asked, waving the lipstick beneath his nose, and she was surprised to see a smirk come across his face. 

“I’ll have to decline, today is an important day.” he said, taking it from her hand and putting it on the counter while keeping eye contact and his smirk on his face. It was her turn to look away now, suddenly feeling very warm. 

He left her then, and she patted her cheeks, looking at herself in the mirror. She hadn’t expected this burning sensation to over take her so quickly. She wondered if she needed to put her head under cold water as well. 

\-----

 

He should have picked the other lipstick. It was too distracting. However, if anyone else was distracted they seemed to hide it very well. So perhaps it was just him that kept looking at her lips? 

It was mesmerizing to watch her speak in German, which the chairman of Zimmerlein seemed to appreciate very much. She continued to let Jumin know subtlety what they were talking about, and was careful to let him participate in the conversation as well, waiting until he was finished speaking to translate for the chairman. 

She gave the powerpoint presentation as well, Jumin following along with his Korean version on his Ipad so that he could know what they were speaking about. Judging by the reaction and expressions of the chairman and others alone, he felt more and more confident about how the deal was going. 

And then he would be distracted by her lips again. Being unable to understand what she was saying made it easier for him to be sidetracked, looking at her with an increasingly softening expression. The memory of his “nightmare” that night came back to him then, and he had to close his eyes, breaking his gaze from her. Everything that had happened yesterday and then his talk with V had stirred up his brain enough to concoct a dream to get under his skin, worse than the first one. He felt as though he didn’t deserve to be in the same room with her anymore. He opened his eyes again, meeting hers as she smiled at him and he felt again as though the tangled threads inside his heart became a little looser. 

He continued to look at her, keeping her locked with his eyes as he tried to pause and think through all the different things running through his brain for a moment. That was when he noticed she was jerking her head gently towards the chairman and he quickly broke eye contact, looking over to see that the chairman was holding out his hand, waiting for a hand shake. 

Jumin was embarrassed, but strong willed enough to keep it from his face as he smiled good naturedly at the man, shaking his hand. 

Was that it? Had the deal been made while he was sitting there distracted by her? Everyone was talking brightly together all at once, some of them standing up and there was more handshaking going on. He shook people’s hands, nodding, still a little out of touch until he looked over at MC again. She gave him a small thumbs up with both arms, grinning, and he felt himself smile wider.

He walked over to her, glancing at his watch as he said,

“Well that only took six hours... are you hungry?” 

“Very.” she said, and the two of them walked out of the room together, discussing where they wanted to go to eat.

 

\----

 

“I can’t believe you still don’t have a jacket, how could I have missed this when we were shopping earlier...” he sighed as they walked through the store, his suit jacket draped over her shoulders. After dinner the weather had turned a little windy and stormy outside, and the thinner material of her dress suit had proved to be a little weak to the outside world. 

“It’s really not that bad, we can just go back to the hotel and I’ll be fine, there’s no need to buy me anything. It’s been so hot recently anyways, there’s no rush!” she laughed, and he shook his head. 

“It’s not a problem at all, I don’t want you to be cold even if it happens sporadically.” he said, and she had to just sigh and walk along with him. He looked throughout racks, assessing all of his findings, and going over the pros and cons of each of the jackets, not noticing that she was watching him with an amused smile the whole time. 

“I can’t decide between these two.” he finally said after a few minutes of staring intently at the two jackets he had narrowed them down to. 

“Maybe you could ask for my opinion?” she said, a little bit of a laugh to her sarcastic voice, and he found himself blushing, looking at her apologetically.

“Oh. Forgive me. I get too carried away sometimes.” he said, handing the two jackets over to her. 

“It’s alright, you have good taste regardless. I like the white one better.” she said, holding up the soft knitted jacket that felt thick between her fingers. 

As soon as he had bought the jacket he took his own suit coat off of her shoulders before pulling on the new one, straightening it carefully around her shoulders. He paused, his hands at her collar as she looked up at him, smiling. He had to close his eyes, sighing for a moment, and she asked him what was wrong.

“N-Nothing. Nothing at all. Let’s go home- or- let’s go to the hotel- yes- that’s what I meant to say.” he said, shaking his head as he parted from her. 

She caught onto the elbow of his sleeve as he walked away, slipping her arm around his once she caught up to him.

“You walk so fast sometimes... I feel like you’re running away.” she said, and he didn’t know what to say, biting his lip as he looked away. Maybe he was trying to run away. The heat of her holding onto his arm was making him itch, so much that he couldn’t focus on anything else. 

They got into his car, sitting beside each other in the back with a strong tension in the air. After a few minutes of driving, the sky turning dark around them, she asked quietly,

“Hey Jumin... what do you do for fun?”

“For fun?”

“Don’t you have any hobbies? You told me about your friends in the fundraising group... and your cat... but what else do you enjoy?”

He thought for a moment before answering slowly,

“Well... I enjoy reading before I go to sleep. And I like walking around my private gardens with Elizabeth the Third, she’s a very curious cat and it’s fun to watch her play in the plants... Umm...” he met her eyes and then asked seriously, “Is wine considered a hobby?”

She burst out laughing before shaking her head and saying,

“Wine tasting maybe, but wine in general? I don’t think it should be!”

“Hmm, you’re right. That’s what my friend V says as well. Some nights I do drink too much... it’s never had too negative of an effect on me, but I do tend to get more sentimental. I say all sorts of embarrassing things, or I bring up old stories.”

She frowned a little at this, asking him curiously,

“Why is it bad to be sentimental? It’s not good to hide all your emotions away like that.”

He gulped, glancing at her for a moment before looking away again as he explained,

“There’s no room for emotions at the workplace. I have more than half of a company to direct, if I showed weakness through my anxieties then I would drag everyone down with my drama. I’ve practiced keeping check on my emotions for my entire life, and so far it has treated me with a very smoothly running atmosphere.”

“Well... maybe on the outside. But keeping all your feelings to yourself can make a mess of you on the inside, which can be dangerous. Don’t you feel tangled up inside sometimes?” she asked, and his heart skipped a beat at her words, making him half mumble a noise, hearing it get caught in his throat. 

“I’ll... be fine.” he then said after a while, turning away again, and she breathed a small worried sigh under her breath. After a few more minutes of silence however he said quietly,

“Thank you for worrying about me. I wouldn’t want to trouble you, but it does feel nice.” 

She reached a hand to his, squeezing it gently, and he felt a small shudder go through him, taken by surprise. When he looked at her though she was looking down at their hands, a bashful expression on her face. In a move of complete spontaneity, he took her hand in both of his, spreading her hand palm up, and tracing each of her fingers thoughtfully. He could hear her breathing, a bit shakily, and he said quietly,

“I just wanted to remember what your hand looked like.”

“That’s a terrible excuse.” she replied, and he frowned, raising his head to look at her again. Then he took her hand, pulling it up to his lips and giving her a kiss on her knuckles.

“It wasn’t an excuse.” 

The look on her face was priceless, and he felt himself smile. She was about to say something when the car stopped and they broke apart after a moment’s hesitation, reaching for their seat belts. 

They went up together in silence, Jumin holding the door open for her when they reached the room, and she slid the new jacket from off her shoulders, setting it on a chair. Then she turned around as he closed the door, waiting patiently. 

“Yes?” he asked, a little unsure when he found her waiting for him. 

“Thank you for buying the jacket for me.” she said, moving up on her toes and leaning forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. She pulled away slowly, keeping her eyes on him but with a nervous look on her face, her cheeks red.

He blinked at her. 

Then without thinking he stepped forward and took her face into his hands, kissing her, gently at first. He kissed her again quickly, rougher this time, and she squeaked a little. He pulled away for a moment, still holding onto her face as he asked,

“Oh, I’m sorry. May I kiss you?”

“It’s a little too late for that.” she laughed, moving up on her toes to kiss him back. He pulled her closer to him with his arms, letting go of her face as he kissed her repeatedly. As he came up for air next she gasped for breath as well, laughing as she said,

“I should have given you the lipstick in the morning anyways, it’s a good color on you.” Jumin reached up, touching his lips to see that her red lipstick came off onto his fingertips. He smirked, taking her chin in his fingers and running his thumb over her bottom lip. 

“The next time we go shopping I’m going to buy you high quality lipstick so it won’t smear no matter what you’re doing.” he said quietly as he pushed down with his thumb, opening her mouth more. He pressed his thumb firmly over her jaw, wiping off the lipstick before he kissed her again, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Her foot slipped suddenly, and the pressure of him kissing her made her fall backwards, hitting the wall. He broke the kiss and then pressed his forehead against hers as she tried to breath, and he said cooly,

“You shouldn’t wear that lipstick in a meeting again by the way. I was embarrassingly distracted the whole time.” 

“Is that why you kept staring at me?” she laughed, and he opened his eyes, meeting her gaze that was only inches away. “I’ll wear it whenever I’d like to.” she then added, smirking a little, and he huffed, shaking his head. He bent his head down, kissing her neck as she seemed to still be getting some air, and he felt her squirm under his grip. He smoothed his hands down her sides, stopping at her hips and holding her close against him as he kissed her neck and nosed her gently. 

His fingers pressed into the small of her back and a small moan escaped her before she quickly clamped her mouth shut, her eyes closed. He hovered his mouth over her neck, blowing gently over where he just kissed, enjoying the shiver that she made against him.

She seemed to be having a harder time standing up after a few minutes of this however, so he bent down, scooping her up in his arms and walking her over to the bed, setting her down and moving over her. Her eyes widened in shock and he smiled, stroking her cheek with his hand. 

“You’re okay...” he said, concern lacing his expression a little. She seemed to relax a little and he kissed her slowly, trying to be as careful as he could so he wouldn’t scare her. He wasn’t sure where her boundaries were, but he definitely knew he was going to watch for them. He pulled back from her for a moment, looking at the flushed girl, smears of her lipstick trailing down her neck. She was still wearing her business suit from earlier. For some reason it was at this moment that Jumin felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him and he glanced up, seeing a reflection of himself in the window. His hair was messy and he had her trapped beneath him as she gasped for breath, his own shirt more or less ruined by smears of lipstick. 

Jumin swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. He felt incredibly off balance all of the sudden, with absolutely no control over his emotions. He felt panicked by this all at once and he slowly moved off of MC, pushing his hair back from his face, feeling a little dizzy. She propped herself up, looking at him with a bit of concern on her face.

“You should... go get ready for bed.” he said quietly, and her face turned even more red. “We have meetings in the morning and you need all the sleep you can get MC. Please.” he clarified, massaging his temples and she let out a puff of air, looking almost relieved.

She seemed to notice the change in his attitude quickly though and she nodded, slipping silently out of the room, pulling at her messy hair which had nearly completely fallen out of it’s former placement. 

Jumin gave a shaky sigh once she left, falling onto his back as he covered his face in his hands. He honestly didn’t know how to cope with all the emotions inside him, and how his entire body was burning from head to toe.

The first thought that entered his mind was her voice, telling him to be careful of storing up his emotions. She was right, this was near explosive for him. He needed to stop this before it went completely out of hand. She was literally a colleague with him on a business trip, the amount of unprofessionalism that had occurred was far more than he’d ever expected from himself. He rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth, glaring at the red lipstick left on his skin. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, if anything he was terrified by how much he liked her, but thinking of the situation and who she was just made him feel irresponsible inside. Besides all that, he’d basically fallen for his father’s prank, how could he face him now? He’d never felt so frustrated before. He didn’t know what to think, and if anything was good or bad at all in this situation.

Kissing her had been clumsier than he’d expected, but it had still been so much better than any dream he had had. If he hadn’t pulled himself back to reality he’d probably still be kissing her now. But it was that rush of adrenaline that was worrying him, and he was still trying to breathe and calm himself down from it, his brain forming possible escape routes from the pit he had dug for himself. 

She came back after a while, changed into her pajamas with her hair combed, all traces of lipstick cleaned off of her now. She looked so comfy and calming he wanted to just hold onto her. However he only stood up and left to get ready as well, trying not to let his mind be eaten up by all the thoughts swirling around inside him. 

When he came back she was curled up around herself, hugging a pillow as she kept her eyes closed. He turned off the light before he laid down, trying to ignore the knowledge that she was lying right beside him as she seemed to be doing as well. After a moment he turned over, reached up to grab pillows, thinking of making another wall, but then he saw her slightly nervous face looking back at him in the dark, looking at him over her shoulder. He knew she could tell something was wrong. It wasn’t fair. He didn’t want her to be upset or confused. None of this was her fault. But the expression on her face told him that she carried a lot of fear. Fear that she’d done something wrong, or had upset him somehow.

He felt his heart ache a little, seeing the worried look on her face, and he left the pillows where they sat, reaching out instead to touch her hair. He pushed it back gently from her face, combing his fingers through as she slowly closed her eyes, turning onto her side towards him.   
He waited until she fell asleep to stop brushing her hair, resting his hand on top of her head. He knew that he should have brushed her off, but it would have hurt too much to reject her when she was looking at him like that. 

This definitely made things more difficult for him now though.

He sat up carefully, leaning over and giving her a light kiss on the cheek before he apologized under his breath.

 

\----

 

When MC woke up in the morning she stayed still for awhile, her eyes closed as she thought about what had happened the night before. It was bizarre, and still a little fuzzy. She had a hard time believing that it had actually happened. But she had an uneasy feeling in her stomach still. Jumin had suddenly seemed so unusual, like he had a mood swing that completely overtook him. She hoped he was okay. 

Maybe she’d scared him?

That didn’t make much sense, seeing as how she’d only kissed him herself once or twice. If anyone had been in control it had most definitely been him. 

She turned red remembering this, pressing her face into her pillow. 

But in any case, she wondered if he  _ had _ been overwhelmed last night. She hadn’t forgotten the conversation they’d had about emotions, and it didn’t seem too far fetched that something like this would send him over the edge. 

She opened her eyes after a sigh, and then her stomach dropped a little. He wasn’t there. She didn’t know why this bugged her so much, he seemed to wake up before her every morning. But she still felt uneasy, and she slid from out under the covers, walking down the hallway to see if he was in the bathroom. He wasn’t there either though, and she swallowed hard when she saw that his things weren’t either. 

When she came back into the main room she noticed an envelope on the desk with her name written on it, and a biting feeling of anxiety overtook her. She opened it, frustrated by the fact that her fingers were shaking so much. Inside was a short hand written letter which she read as she sat down at the desk.

_ “Miss MC, I’m very sorry to leave without saying goodbye or even good morning, but I decided it was better to leave quickly. The last thing I want in this world is to offend or worry you, so please do not misunderstand what I’ve written. I will be honest in admitting that some sort of fear or anxiety came to me last night, something I know that you noticed. It is not because of you or anything you have done, please do not think this way. I just became incredibly aware of the situation and found it highly disrespectful of me to act in such an unprofessional manner. I should have always treated you as the respectable colleague that you are, showing this amount of familiarity is not only out of the ordinary for me, but also something I never wished to impose on another person in my field. I’m sorry that I’ve allowed myself to distract not only myself but also you from the work that we have here, and I will continue to try and act in a more professional manner from here on out. I’ll be staying at another hotel, and I have my phone. If you find yourself in any kind of emergency please do not hesitate to ask for my help. _

_ Good Morning and I will see you later today at the meeting, Jumin Han.” _

She had to put down the letter, wiping away the tears that had come to her eyes. She let out a frustrated sob, mad that she felt so upset over this. There wasn’t anything wrong, he wasn’t throwing her out to the curb. He was just... being professional. 

And she wished he wouldn’t be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life sucks and people are stupid sometimes.
> 
> -  
> This one is probably a little more wordy than the other ones, sorry! Feelings are complicated and it's hard to write them down, haha.   
> I'm very excited to finish the next chapter though. >_>

Before she saw him in the meeting there was a heavy uneasy feeling in her stomach, and she felt more and more anxious about what would happen when they did meet, She knew that it would have felt strange to be there with him regardless of what he’d done last night, if they were just going to show up at a work meeting and pretend nothing had happened. But it wouldn’t have been this painful if he hadn’t left. 

She’d thought about it a lot, and she had reread his letter a couple more times that morning. It was tucked inside her jacket right now actually, the one he had bought her, sitting on the back of her chair. At first she had been really upset, not being able to help feeling like she had done something wrong. But after calming down and rethinking things, she’d felt better about it. Maybe he was right, and they needed to take a break while they were still in on a business trip. They both had companies behind them that were counting on them to do their jobs, and he was in a higher position than she was. The amount of pressure that he must be feeling was more than she could imagine. She could now understand a little better why he would choose to be so private about his emotions. 

So she was trying to be positive about this. After all, all he had really done was go to another hotel for the last night that they had in this trip. It was something one of them should have done at the beginning, and there was a part of her that regretted not doing it first. Besides, after last night she didn’t know how she was supposed to think clearly while sleeping a few feet away from him. 

It was most definitely for the best. And it wasn’t the end of the world, right? He hadn’t said he never wanted to see her again. So for now she would keep her chin up and try her best to focus on work as well, and make it easier on him during the follow up meetings they had today. There was a dinner party in the evening, she had that to look forward to. She was sure they could resolve things better later. 

When she saw him in the meeting though, her anxiety that she had been feeling seemed to only escalate. He didn’t look at her, obviously trying very hard to only stare at his papers or whoever was talking. And if that happened to be her then his expression was blank, one that he had obviously rehearsed multiple times.

She tried not to let it bother her, though she had really hoped for a smile, or anything at all to let her know that he wasn’t just shutting her out. She caught her voice wavering once or twice when she looked at him, and she would have to stop and clear her throat, just to hide it. 

She became more used to it as the meeting went on, and it was easier to forget about things after a while, letting herself focus on work instead. However there would always be a moment where she’d remember him and she would feel a pain in her chest again. Throughout the day they went to different meetings, went to different room numbers, and ate lunch with the company as well. Between every one of these she would try to catch his arm, or walk fast enough without running to catch his attention, but it would never work. It was after this that she had to accept what he was doing. Avoiding her.

She tried not to take it personally,  _ but it was really hard not do do just that.  _

Finally after the last meeting as he was leaving the building she was able to grab onto his arm, stopping him in his tracks. He looked at her, and she had hoped to see any kind of expression at all, even a startled one would have been okay. 

But he just looked as calm as he had in the meeting.

“J-Jumin?” she said, her voice a little shaky, and he waited a moment before responding back with an even tone,

“Yes?”

She stared back at him, opening her mouth and closing it, completely unsure of what to say and how to say it. She could see his car waiting for him in front of the building, and when she looked back at him he had the same bleak expression on his face. She looked down, letting go of his arm, feeling a little panicky and foolish for stopping him.

It was obvious that he didn’t want to see her. He was trying to be responsible, and he was good at it. So why was she trying so hard to undo it?

She had no right to be selfish, not when she was here to represent her company, and he his own. She hugged herself gently, her fingers pulling at her new jacket, and it was Jumin who spoke next saying,

“I’ll see you at the dinner party tonight, Miss MC. I’m glad the deal has been closed successfully with all the loose ends tied. It was nice to work with you.” 

She gulped, feeling her eyes turn itchy now, and she could feel tears beginning to rim them. Of course. Now that the deal was complete there was nothing left to do here. It was done. There were no more meeting, it was just one dinner party and then they were both leaving. 

“Likewise...Thanks a lot... Mr. Han.” she choked out, and then she turned on her heel, walking as quickly as she could away from him as she began to shake with tears; wiping them from her cheeks as more came to replace them as quickly as she brushed them away. 

She hid herself behind a corner, wondering if she was flattering herself to imagine that he was looking for her, coming after her to apologize or to explain that she had just misunderstood. But she didn’t dare look back to see if he was. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was too afraid to see if he was driving away.

 

\---

 

That really wasn’t what Jumin had wanted her to do. As soon as she’d called him Mr. Han he felt like someone had punched him in his stomach, and he swallowed the lump in his throat. She was already running away though before he had the chance to apologize. 

He had really hoped that she’d be understanding with him. And to be honest, it seemed that she was doing just that. Maybe that’s why he hated it so much.

He covered his face, letting out a very frustrated sigh, still feeling sick to his stomach. As soon as he saw her at the party he was going to retell her his letter, but this time in person with more personal words. Things always went better over in person than they did in writing, right? He knew that. 

_ Then why didn’t you just tell her you were leaving in the morning instead of leaving a letter??? _ The thought popped into his head and he turned around, heading towards his car with a frustrated look on his face. He didn’t want to admit that he’d been too scared to tell her he was leaving in person. He wasn’t sure if he had been scared of seeing her reaction, or scared that he wouldn’t have been strong enough to even get the words out and would have just fallen more under her spell. He knew he had a lot of self control, but when it came to her, he was beginning to doubt that part of his character. He had already indulged himself with her  _ far too much. _ Jumin wasn’t sure how he could have broken off the situation any other way.

This seemed to be effective, but not nearly as easy as he thought it would be. He hated it, in fact. And he was starting to hate himself too.

Jumin got inside his car and let it drive him back to the new hotel he was staying at, lost in his thoughts the entire time. He hadn’t slept well last night, and he couldn’t believe how often he would wake up from a moment of rest and look to see if she was there.  _ It had literally only been 4 nights.  _ He didn’t understand why he had become so attached to her in such a short amount of time. Not only did he absolutely want to kiss and hold her again, but he just missed  _ talking _ to her as well. The small simple conversations they had had were so much more addicting than he had thought they’d be. He missed talking to someone who seemed genuinely interested in the real him, rather than someone they had to impress. Forcing himself to avoid her all day had been incredibly painful, and he still wasn’t sure it had been the grandest plan either. 

But what would his plan have been otherwise? What did he think was going to happen after this? He still had no clue whether or not they’d even see each other again after this trip. Jumin was almost beginning to regret kissing her in the first place. Almost.

Jumin sat down in the chair of his hotel room, tapping his fingers on his leg impatiently. He wished Elizabeth the Third was there, petting her always helped him calm down when he was anxious. He pulled out his phone, logging into the messenger to see who was online. Unfortunately it was just Zen. It wasn’t that Jumin hated him, or disliked talking to him, it was just that their conversations always seemed to end with him feeling confused and irritated and Zen yelling at him over idiotic things.  But maybe today would be okay.

 

Jumin: Zen, you’re here.

Zen: Oh no

Jumin: What?

Zen: You sound like you were looking for me, what could you possibly want from me? 

Jumin: I wasn’t looking for you in particular, I’m just glad someone else is in the chatroom, I need to distract myself.

Zen: Are you bored?

Jumin: No, just a little unsettled.

Zen: Why? Are you having troubles with your business deal?

Jumin: No, that’s fine, I just offended someone.

Zen: Why are you unsettled about that, isn’t that just a regular occurence in the daily life of Jumin Han? -_-

Jumin: You make it seem like I do nothing but offend others wherever I go.

Zen: I wonder WHY hMM

Jumin: I don’t have the patience to argue Zen, I am genuinely unsettled right now and I’m not sure what to do about it.

Zen: Fine, whatever. Who did you offend?

Jumin: My coworker.

Zen: I’m sorry, who are you and what have you done with Jumin Han? When was the last time you cared about offending a coworker?

Jumin: -_-

Jumin: I never wish to offend others, if someone is offended by something I say to them then they have complete power over how they are to react and they should discuss it with me. However this time I know I am at fault, I’m just not sure what to do to remedy the situation. I’m afraid that I’ve made Miss MC very upset at me. She’s not angry, she’s just upset. I don’t like to think about it.

Zen: wait a second

Zen: Waaaaait

Jumin: ?

Zen: You’re not coming to me for  _ relationship advice are you? _

Jumin: No

Jumin: Or rather

Jumin: Well

Zen: omg please no what did I do to deserve this

Jumin: It’s not like that, but I suppose I am dealing with a relationship that definitely HAS been damaged, so technically....?

Zen: I can’t believe this

Jumin: Well I wasn’t really looking for your advice regardless, like I said, I just came here to distract myself. My nerves are a mess. 

Zen: Okay, first of all, you need to apologize.

Jumin: I already did. And once again, I wasn’t specifically coming here for advice.

Zen: Second of all, your apology probably won’t mean a thing if she’s really upset with you, so you need to figure out a way to apologize again but this time better and completely different. 

Jumin: -_-

Jumin: Why wouldn’t the first one work on its own?

Zen: UUUH OBVIOUSLY IT DIDN’T, RIGHT???

Jumin: ...

Zen: ANYWAYS, sheesh, you should do something nice for her. IDK how to give you advice honestly, this is just all sorts of weird. 

Jumin: I’m trying to avoid her right now, I feel like if I involve myself too much with her, things will only become more complicated.

Zen: Sooooo you’re running away.

Jumin: I’m trying to deescalate a situation.

Zen: Ugh, you’re idiotic. What is this girl’s phone number, I’ll be much more kind to her than you, she’s probably feeling very unimportant and hurt right now thanks to you. -_-

Jumin: I hope not...

Zen: Just what did you do to her? If it’s not  _ relationship _ advice that I’m giving you, then what happened? Did you insult her intelligence?

Jumin: No, I would never do that. She’s incredibly intelligent. 

Zen: So what did you do?????

Jumin: .....

Jumin: hmm...

Zen: I can’t work with this Jumin.

Jumin: Maybe I am... asking... for... relationship advice.

Zen: ooooOMMMMMMGMGMGGGGGGGG

Zen: I CANNOT

Zen: BELIEVE THIS

Jumin: please stop

Zen: THIS POOR GIRL

Jumin: -_-

Zen: HOW DID THIS HAPPEN

Jumin: I don’t know, but you’re sure making it worse. I’m going to leave if you keep wasting my time.

Zen: I ALREADY GAVE YOU ADVICE, JUST APOLOGIZE.

Jumin: But I DID.

Zen: Well apparently it was STILL BAD

Jumin: I don’t know what to do in this situation, it’s much more complicated than you think it is, and I’m not sure you’re helping me.

Zen: You’re probably making it more complicated than it needs to be, tbh. 

Jumin: tbh??? What is that?

Zen: Just apologize.

Zen: Kiss her.

Zen: Ugh I don’t need a mental image of you kissing literally anyone, I just felt a chill.

Zen: That poor girl has a robot after her. HEY 

Zen: HEY THOUGH, IS SHE ON THE SAME PAGE AS YOU???

Zen: ARE YOU GIVING HER UNWANTED ATTENTION, IS THAT WHAT THIS IS?

Jumin: I already told you, I’m avoiding her right now. 

Zen: .....

Zen: So does that mean she’s giving YOU unwanted attention? 

Zen: Have I just misunderstood this whole situation? And what’s really going on is just Jumin Han breaking someone’s heart?

Zen: I can’t believe I gave a jerk like you advice -_-

Jumin: It’s not unwanted attention! Why are you so difficult to talk to.

Zen: .... oHO SO IT’S NOT UNWANTED, SO JUMIN HAN IS RUNNING AWAY FROM HIS FEELINGS? 

Zen: I THINK I NEED TO SIT DOWN.

Jumin: I think I need to go, since all you’ve done so far is blow everything out of proportion. 

Zen: Okay, quick advice. 1. Don’t be an idiot and apologize to her, apologize a lot. 2. DON’T AVOID HER, WTH? 3. You do everything you can not to break her heart, and I SWEAR I WILL FIND OUT IF YOU DO AND I WILL COME KILL YOU FOR HER. 

Jumin: I’m calling the police.

Zen: Don’t be a five year old.

Jumin: You’re the one yelling at me and threatening to kill me.

Zen: -_-

Jumin: I feel exhausted and I have a headache now, so I’m going to leave. I will consider your advice. Goodbye.

Zen: Bye?????

 

Jumin logged out of the messenger with an annoyed sigh, tossing his phone onto the bed a few feet from him. Zen was, unfortunately, probably right. He needed to apologize to her again. He just felt extremely frustrated by the fact that he knew anymore interaction with him was going to make it harder for him to end this. 

End this? Is that what he wanted to do?

Jumin didn’t want that to happen either. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore, or what should happen. He was caught in between dropping everything for her, and his priorities and responsibilities of his business. Not only for him, but her as well. Everything would have been fine if she wasn’t his coworker. However, it was because she was his coworker that he had been able to meet her. 

Jumin groaned again, sinking lower in his chair. At least there was still the dinner party. He could apologize to her again there. He was nervous about seeing her, but he knew he should put that aside to try and fix the situation. 

Jumin stood up, glancing at his watch to see how much time he had to get ready for the party. It wasn’t for another couple hours. 

Just then his phone began to ring and he found himself snatching it up quickly, wondering if it was her calling. However, it was his father. 

“Hello?” Jumin sighed, sitting back on the bed, praying that his father wouldn’t dig into this situation more and instead focus on the business deal.

“Jumin! What did you do to her?!”

“What?” Jumin frowned, very confused.

“Would you like to explain to me why Miss MC contacted GoldStar to tell them she was coming home early?!”

“Coming home early?... What do you mean? We still have a dinner party to go to tonight.” Jumin said, sitting up and feeling his stomach begin to turn.

“Well apparently she just called the chairman of GoldStar to say that she was going to the airport to try and catch an earlier flight home! We were both worried that something happened to the two of you!”

“Well.... well you two shouldn’t have set us up in the first place! Do you know how awful I feel right now? Do you know how worried about her I am?! This never would have happened if you two hadn’t decided to play with us like a couple of toys!” Jumin snapped, his anxieties rising alongside his anger now, his hands beginning to clench.

“Don’t raise your voice at me! I don’t know what happened, but if there’s a reason she’s leaving home this early before you even have the goodbye party-”

“I WOULDN’T BE YELLING IF I DIDN’T FEEL LIKE THIS! I SHOULDN’T BE MESSING AROUND AND WORRYING ABOUT SILLY EMOTIONS WHILE I’M ON A BUSINESS TRIP, AND NEITHER SHOULD SHE! I’VE NEVER FELT LIKE THIS BEFORE, AND NOW I’M JUST TRYING TO PUT THINGS BACK TO NORMAL!” Jumin yelled back, his own voice scaring him a little. He stopped immediately, closing his eyes and trying to steady his breathing. He’d never really yelled like this at his father before. Or anyone for that matter.

He had yelled a little bit at the beginning of the trip, but there had still been an air of joking around from the other end. But they had never argued like  _ this. _

“Jumin...”

“I’m sorry for yelling. I’m going to try talking to her or... I don’t know. I’m sorry for acting disrespectfully towards you. Goodbye.” Jumin hung up, setting down his phone with trembling hands. His chest hurt from yelling. He didn’t feel like himself at all. 

He picked up his phone again, now pulling up her number in his contacts, calling her quickly. He waited, listening to the ringer go for a few moments, until it ended with an answering machine. He tried calling again, his free hand becoming increasingly twitchy. 

When she didn’t answer the second time he stood up and grabbed his coat, leaving immediately out the door. It looked like he was going to the airport. 

 

\-----

 

She had almost answered. She wondered if he had found out that she was leaving. If that was the case, she wondered why he was calling her. She had felt too nervous to talk to him.

She had decided that she felt too sick to go to the party. She didn’t want to see him there and have to endure another couple hours of him pretending to be indifferent towards her. Him avoiding her had been a lot more painful to deal with than she had thought it would be. 

Also, this wasn’t the end of the world. She just didn’t want to go to a party knowing that she would have a terrible time there. If he wanted to talk to her again after this then he could find her in Korea later. But for tonight she just didn’t feel like doing anything. 

She didn’t want this to turn into a soap opera, even though she knew that this was  _ totally like a soap opera.  _ But what was she going to do? Wait in a hotel room by herself all night until her plane left in the morning? That didn’t sound like too much fun. 

And if she was unable to get a last minute ticket here at the airport, she decided that it would be okay just to wait here until she had to go. She just wanted to be left alone and get back home where life seemed more settled in reality. Jumin wanted to do the same thing it seemed like, and she decided that she should respect that.

Instead of checking for flights immediately however, she hung back from the crowds at the help desk, thinking about how he had tried to call her. 

Maybe she would just wait a little bit before she checked to see when the next available flight was.

 

\------

 

Jumin had to call V three times before the man picked up. 

“Jumin? I have a bad connection right now, so I’m sorry if I get cut off.” V’s wary voice answered. “Did you need something?”

Jumin grit his teeth. He unfortunately had a good memory, and could remember V clearly telling him over the phone last time, “I don’t want the next time we talk to be me consoling you over a bad decision.”

“Umm.... I made a bad decision and I’m asking you to console me and possibly give me advice.” Jumin murmured quietly. V gave what sounded like a very exhausted sigh on the other end, and then he laughed quietly. 

“Oh Jumin... I’m not used to giving you advice. You’re the one who’s been doing that for me my whole life, you’re the mature one.” 

“You’re better at dealing with emotions than I am.”

“I don’t know about that... I’m not sure that I deal with them in a healthy way.” V replied quietly, and Jumin looked out the window of the car that currently was making its way through traffic to reach the airport. It was strange to think that all the people he saw outside in the city were dealing with their own emotions and problems just like he was. For once it reminded him that he was just another piece in the world, just another person like the rest of them. 

“Well... You connect with the world on a much more emotional level than I do. And I only make a mess when I get mixed up in the emotions of others. And myself.” Jumin sighed. 

“What do you want advice on?” V asked.

“I let myself grow too attached to her, V. It went too far, and now I’m trying to be professional again and make it easier on both of us to just focus on our work... but I’ve only made it harder and I know she’s upset by me avoiding her. I’m going to go talk to her right now... if I catch her in time before she leaves. If she does end up leaving, I don’t know if I could bring myself to talk to her again about it.”

“Oh... so you’re scared of your feelings?” V said after a moment of thought, and Jumin sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Everyone keeps saying that but no. Why would I be afraid of how I feel about her, I just want to keep work and my emotions separate and she’s like a bridge between them. It’s not good.” he said, feeling even more uneasy as he said the words.

“That may be part of it, but I think you’re lying. I think you are scared about how you feel. It’s okay Jumin, I know this is something completely foreign to you, but don’t hurt yourself like this. It’s not the end of the world if your work life and your personal life overlap a little bit... Especially for you since... you barely have a life outside of work. I think it’s maybe time for you to make one.”

“But she has work to worry about too-”

“Jumin, if she was willing to become this close to you so quickly, I think she’d be willing to rearrange her priorities so that you become more important to her than work is.”

“That’s irresponsible.” 

“It doesn’t have to be! If you two were abandoning all work related activities to go off on vacation THEN I would start to be concerned about irresponsibility. But if you both have mutual feelings then I believe you can be able to have enough maturity to balance your lives-”

V’s voice went dead on the other end, and Jumin frowned more. He heard some static, and then V’s voice cutting in and out. 

“V your connection is bad....” Jumin said, gloomily, still thinking about what V had told him. He wished that he could fully support the advice that he had been given, but it still seemed wrong for him to blend two sides of his life together like this. He’d already made her upset, he was scared that he’d make an even bigger mess on accident. 

He listened to V cut in and out, and he thought he caught V trying to apologize for the bad connection, and starting to say he had to leave. After a few more seconds of this, Jumin eventually said thank you and then hung up, putting his phone down. He really wished he could have talked to him for longer, even if he just felt more frustrated with himself at this point. 

 

\---

 

MC was leaning against the wall, watching the planes take off when her phone buzzed again. This was the fourth time he had called her. She whined a little under her breath, feeling incredibly anxious as she raised the phone up from her pocket. Then she closed her eyes tight and answered it, feeling a little panicked. She knew she shouldn’t be afraid to talk to him, and she really shouldn’t have ignored his calls for this long, but there was enough adrenaline thumping through her right now that she felt like she needed to sit down first before she talked to him again. 

“...Hello?” she said quietly, hoping that he just had a work related question. She didn’t want him to ignore her, but at the same time she was scared to talk about anything else besides work with him.

“MC! Where are you?”

“I’m... um... not at the hotel. I’m not feeling so good so uh... I was just going to fly home early. I’m at the airport right now-”

“No, I know you’re at the airport- I mean where are you  _ at the airport _ .” Jumin said on the other end, and she furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Uh... You’re not... Jumin, you’re not here are you?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. 

“I am. Where are you? Should I page you over the help desk?”

“W-What? Why are you here? You should go to the party, I’ll be fine, just tell them I wasn’t feeling well-” she was interrupted by catching sight of him, far off on the other end of the large main room she was in, looking around the crowd with his phone against his ear. She immediately tried to look away though when his searching eyes caught sight of hers, and in a sudden panic she hung up, pushing her phone into her pocket and picking up her suitcase to roll it away.

She turned around a corner, humming absentmindedly under her breath as she tried to think of what to do or where to hide. She felt so scatterbrained. She stopped in her tracks though when he heard him call out her name, and she stood still, biting her lip. 

She waited, hearing his footsteps slow down as he reached her, and she closed her eyes. Then she opened them a little to see him standing in front of her, a little out of breath, and she looked back down at the ground.

“MC... I’m so sorry. Please don’t leave early, please wait until tomorrow.”

“It’s just a party... it’s fine.” she said quietly, and he sighed. 

“I’m sorry that I was avoiding you, I thought it was the best thing for the situation. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have gone overboard. Please come to the party, I know Zimmerlein’s chairman would be upset if you couldn’t come.” Jumin tried to explain, and she looked up at him, biting her lip still. 

“Oh... I didn’t think about him.” she said quietly. “I probably shouldn’t put aside my expectations just because I’m nervous about a party. I’m sorry Jumin, that wasn’t very considerate of me, you’re right.” 

He was quiet, a worried look on his face, and she bent down a little, reaching for her suitcase. He picked it up first though, pulling it along for her as they turned around. 

“It’ll take awhile to get back, but I think we’ll make the party in time.” Jumin said after awhile and she nodded, continuing to look down at the ground. Then she suddenly looked up and around them however, frowning as she said,

“Jumin, your security guards aren’t here?” 

“Oh... I suppose they aren’t. I didn’t tell them I was going out, this was very last minute.” 

“Hmm... I’m sorry I made you worry and rush over here so fast.” she said, looking back to the floor. He was quiet again for a moment, and she didn’t say anything else until he said suddenly,

“MC, I’m still worried that you misunderstand why I’m here, I’m not trying to make you come so that Zimmerlein will be happy, I want you to come so that I can talk to you.  _ I _ don’t want you to leave early.”

“I thought it would be hard for you to see me... You were so cold all day.” she admitted, her voice coming out a little shaky.

“I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I was... scared.” Jumin breathed out, frowning. 

“Scared of me?”

“I’m not sure... Maybe I was more scared of me acting strange... doing unexpected things... I haven’t felt like myself all week, it’s been very strange for me.”

“Unexpected things? What do you mean?” she asked, frowning a little in concern. He was quiet, unable to meet her eye as he grasped for something to say, his mouth gaping a little. A small bit of blush came over her cheeks and she smiled at him for the first time that day, still biting her lip shyly. He looked away, his cheeks red, and he continued to pull her suitcase across the airport, almost near the entrance now. She had to walk a little faster to keep up with him, wanting to grab onto his arm, but worried he still was a little wary of her. Seeing him return to the slightly flustered state that he had been earlier was comforting at least. Now she knew that there were still no fake feelings between the two of them.

He put her suitcase into the car before opening the door for her, climbing in after her. They were quiet for the first couple of minutes until he finally turned towards her saying carefully,

“I need to be clear... and explain things.”

“Okay.” 

He looked nervous now, taking a breath before saying cooly,

“It would be foolish to deny the fact that I have feelings for you. And it was foolish of me to ignore you to try to keep myself from facing that fact. However, I still feel uncomfortable knowing that this is a professional setting... So I still wish us to finish this business trip with as little distractions as possible.”

She swallowed uncomfortably, thinking carefully about what he said. 

“So... you do like me... but you want to be completely professional until the end of this trip? So when we get back home do you think...” she trailed off, looking at him as he took another breath, looking very serious. 

“I... well... I would  _ like _ to see you again. I’ll admit that I don’t know when or how that will happen, and the idea is near terrifying to me but-” he looked back at her, sighing before he finished,

“I would like to be with you more... I would like that a lot.” 

She smiled to herself, hugging herself a little as she felt a little bubbly inside. She wanted to kiss him right now. But he was unfortunately too serious about this situation to coax him into that. She could understand and respect his decision, but she was still a little sad that he wasn’t willing to relax just a little bit. It wasn’t as if them growing close would rain down hail and fire on their work, they were both rational adults. MC had a large suspicion that this was simply Jumin’s way of coping with the fact that he was feeling about someone and he was too terrified to deal with it publicly. 

If that was true, and she suspected it was, then she decided it was time to get him over his fear before it escalated into anything worse. And she had tonight to do it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get patched up. Plus some kisses and more talking it out. :)

Because they were so close to being late to the party they drove straight to it, MC carrying in her suitcase and makeup to find the first bathroom that she could. Thankfully there was a coat room for her to put her stuff in afterwards. Jumin was already in a suit anyways, so he didn’t have change at all, although he probably would have put on something a little fancier if he had been given the time. 

As he paused outside the bathroom before she went inside she turned around and said,

“Jumin, you don’t have to wait for me, I’ll probably be a little while. Go on ahead, I’ll meet you at dinner later. Save me a seat please!” 

He nodded as she waved at him, pulling her suitcase with her into the bathroom and disappearing inside. Jumin then left, feeling a little awkward walking into the party by himself. Up to this point she had been with him, often acting as a translator. He had his own of course, but it felt a little strange since she had been it for so long. He talked to a few people, the conversation a little difficult for him, and after awhile he found himself on his own, no one to talk to. 

But at least there was wine. 

V would probably not be very happy with him, but V wasn’t here right now... Besides, Jumin could hold his alcohol very well, it had never really been a concern for him. He knew he shouldn’t be drinking just because he was bored and still a little shaken from all his nerves from today, but he also was having a harder time coming up with reasons to stop himself. 

He was in the middle of his second glass when she finally came back, now ready for the party. He blinked a few times when he saw her. 

Was she seriously wearing one of the dresses his father had bought for her? It had to be, since Jumin didn’t remember picking it out with her on their trip. It looked as though she was wearing one of the jackets that went with a different dress, so now black lace was covering her arms and back, hanging around her elegantly as the short backless cocktail dress hugged her underneath, glittering a little in the light. With the lace coat over it all, it wasn’t as nearly shocking as it had been before, but that didn’t change the fact that he  _ knew _ what she was wearing. She had that same lipstick on too. 

He suddenly felt very frustrated and he looked down at his glass of wine, trying to bully himself into thinking clearly again as he drank some more. After taking a moment to sort himself out he felt a little better and he walked up to her, wondering what he should say. She smiled at him, turning in his direction and he felt a little more at ease. 

However, as he opened his mouth to say something she instead walked right past him, reaching out to take the hand of the chairman of Zimmerlein, greeting him cheerfully in German and walking past Jumin who stood there confused. 

He turned around, watching her laugh brightly with the man, not taking one moment to glance back at Jumin who still had his hand held out awkwardly. 

He quickly lowered it, trying to turn around and find the nearest glass of wine that he could see. She had probably spotted the chairman first and Jumin had just assumed she was walking towards him. 

That was probably the reason why. 

After getting a new glass of wine he sat down at his chair at the table, about to tell MC that he had saved a spot for her. But before he could say anything she was already sitting next to the chairman, continuing to chat happily to him and the others around her. 

Jumin swallowed, feeling the smallest bite of emotion nipping at his heart. She had probably just forgotten. It was fine. They were being professional anyways, he had asked her to.

Jumin continued to drink and waited patiently for her to bring him into the conversation like she normally did. However, she didn’t; continuing to joke and laugh with the others in German as he felt himself become more and more isolated. He reluctantly let his translator sit next to him then, who quietly told him some of the things that they were talking about. It really annoyed him however when they would all laugh at a joke, including his translator, who would then try to explain the joke to him, which never made sense anyways. 

When he finally caught her eye all she did was smile at him, and he felt his cheeks grow warm again. She looked too pretty to be smiling at him like that right now. She looked too pretty to be smiling at  _ anyone _ like that right now. 

As dinner started he was finally able to join in the conversation a little more, and she thankfully helped him, even though she still seemed to be a little distant from him. He stabbed his food with his fork, a little rougher than he meant to as they chatted around him, only addressing him once in awhile. He watched as she talked, running her fingers through her hair and twisting it between her fingertips distractedly, seemingly unaware that his eyes could do nothing but watch her movements. 

Didn’t she know that playing with her hair made it look like she was flirting? What if someone got the wrong idea? What if someone started to bug her? Jumin was slowly beginning to burn up inside, his head coming up with worst case scenario stories for himself.  

No one else seemed to be as worked up as he was though. Of course they all seemed to be having a grand time besides him. Jumin continued to stare at her throughout dinner, concern on his face as she kept playing with her hair and laughing with everyone else but him. 

For a moment he wondered if she was still mad at him for ignoring her earlier. If she was, he felt a little sad. He had tried to apologize, hadn’t he? He really felt bad about it. He had thought that she had forgiven him earlier... 

As dinner progressed however, he decided that she wasn’t acting spiteful towards him in any way, and her smile was genuine as ever when she looked at him. But he couldn’t get over the feeling that she was ignoring him, even just a little bit. 

Jumin seized a lull in the conversation to ask her questions about the deal, trying to search for any negative expression or tone that she would direct towards him. There was none however, and she answered him simply and honestly, continuing to smile at him. Then, as her fingers went from twisting her hair to fiddling with the necklace sitting at her collarbone, she said brightly,

“But Mr. Han, this is a party to enjoy each other’s company outside of work, you should relax. We don’t have to worry about business right now.” 

He swallowed, giving a little nod as he looked back down at his food that was almost gone now, along with the glass of wine he was drinking. He couldn’t remember which number this glass was. She had called him Mr. Han again. He didn’t like it, but it did seem appropriate for the occasion among those who knew him by that name here.

They finished dinner, the members of the dining hall now roaming around and talking some more as light music filled the area as a white noise. Usually Jumin thrived in places like this, even if he himself didn’t particularly love them. He was good at talking to others and generating interesting conversation. 

But now he felt restless and slightly off balance. He kept tapping the side of his glass with his finger, trying to keep himself calm. Why was he even upset in the first place??? Jumin also found himself following MC around subconsciously, though he felt as though he couldn’t stand close to her. So he would stand a far off, watching her talk to others, and looking... perfect. He wondered if she was doing this on purpose. But then again, he didn’t know what it was she was even  _ doing.  _

It was when he was reaching for yet another glass of wine that he felt a hand on his arm and he stopped, turning to see her there. She had a slightly concerned look on her face and she said quietly,

“I think you’ve been drinking too much.”

“I... I feel just fine. I haven’t been acting out of the ordinary have I?” he asked, confused and also starting to feel uneasy due to the fact that her hand was still holding onto his arm, pressing into him gently. 

“No... you’ve been fine. I’m just worried about you though. Why don’t you come talk to everyone?” she said, and he had to pull his head back a little as she leaned closer to him with a smile. 

“I’m not.... Uh... I haven’t been feeling very sociable for some reason.” he said, his voice growing quieter. 

“Hmm... do you need to go back to your hotel? I’ll be fine here, I seem to be getting a lot of attention tonight.” she laughed, and Jumin had to clear his throat, feeling that biting feeling in his heart again. Whatever the feeling was, it was growing stronger. 

“N-No, I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I’m not alone. I told you, I have lots of people to talk to.” she repeated, continuing to smile at him. He blinked at her, trying to keep a sour expression from his face. 

“Oh and Mr. Han” she said, suddenly reaching up her hands and making him lean back even further in surprise. His eyes widened when her hands closed around his tie, pulling on it gently before she finished saying, “Your tie is crooked.”

Her hands lingered against his chest, and she smiled at him once more before pulling away, slowly lifting her fingers off of him. He breathed out, having been holding his breath the entire time, his eyes still wide and glued to her. 

He could feel his face turning red, and he watched as she smiled and waved before turning around and walking back towards a group of people. He was very frustrated if he was being honest. But she hadn’t done anything wrong, had she? Where was this frustration coming from and more importantly  _ where _ was he going to direct it?

Jumin went to grab another glass of wine, having completely forgotten what she had asked of him due to how out of sorts he was now, but then he heard her calling him and he turned around immediately to face her. 

“Yes?” he answered as he walked up to her and the others she was standing with. 

“Mr. Han, we were talking about charities and I thought you might want to join in... You’re one of the RFA members, you actually help run a charity program yourself! What’s the biggest impact you’ve seen made by it?” she asked, and he looked around at all the people waiting to hear him. 

“Well... um.... We’ve been able to receive many generous donations before and it’s been impactful for me personally to um-” he glanced at her to see that she was listening intently, but with her fingers perched on top of her lips. Why was that so distracting? “To- to see the goodness that exists in people around us all... It’s amazing how much those who are fortunate can do for others. And I believe we have a responsibility to help those who are less fortunate, especially if we are in a position where we can do so easily.”

She smiled at him, then lifting her fingers away from her lips as she faced the others and translated for him. The others nodded, smiling and responding to his comment heartilly. She vaguely translated things for him, letting him know that they agreed and that they were impressed he had time to commit to running not only a business but a charity association as well.

“Well of course, one should always be sure to devote time to the things that are important to them. It may be extra work for me, but I’m very happy to sacrifice time to be a part of the RFA. The friends that help me with it are incredibly valuable to me, and I would not hold work in a higher position than them.” he responded, wondering if the wine was making him a little sentimental as it usually did. 

However, he was surprised when he looked back at MC to see her pinning him in place with her eyes, a very serious expression on her face. He instantly felt incredibly guilty, and he wasn’t completely sure why. She didn’t look angry, she looked more like she was yelling something at him behind her calm expression.

“That’s really nice of you Mr. Han. They’re lucky to have a friend who cares that much about them.” she said quietly, and he swallowed. 

Oh. Was she hinting at their situation now? 

It made sense. He had put her on hold while asking her to pretend as though nothing had happened, all for the sake of work. He hadn’t even touched her that much since last night. Thinking about holding her was not a good idea at the moment however, and he shook his head a little, trying to get a grip.

In any case, Jumin wondered if this was her way of asking him why he was so scared of them being together. If he was willing to have the RFA be a part of his life alongside work, then what was wrong with her? Why was he so worried about this? There was nothing scandalous going on, it was just surprising that they were coworkers who had become close. Jumin wondered if it was partly his father’s promiscuous and drama filled life style that made him so wary of anything romantic for himself. He’d already known it had affected him negatively up to this point, a heavy weight he’d had to bear since he was a teenager. 

She continued on with her conversation with the others, and he began fidgeting with his cufflinks, feeling a frown deepen over his face. He was brought back to reality however when he heard her laughing with someone, and he looked up to see that the group was moving away from him now, and her back was turning to him. 

He immediately noticed the fact that the man she had been standing next to had begun to lead her away along with the group, his hand leading her by the small of her back, resting on the lace that covered her skin. 

Jumin didn’t think about this for long, he was already striding forward and he took her hand as he said her name clearly, a small frown still on his face. He pulled her from the other man’s grasp, and she turned towards him, a look of slight surprise on her face. 

“Yes, Mr. Han?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. He huffed, his fingers tightening slightly around her hand at this, and he said cooly,

“Please don’t call me that.”

“What? What am I supposed to call you then, Mr. Han?”

“You know perfectly well what I want you to call me.” he said, still frowning. 

“Well I know you asked me to call you by your first name, but seeing as this is a professional dinner, I decided it would be best to be more formal. Right?” she said innocently, and he narrowed his eyes at her even more. He swore he heard her giggle under her breath as he began pulling her across the room, over to the nearest place he could find that still had glasses of wine set out.

He didn’t want to let her go right now, he couldn’t stand to see her playing around with the others, looking like this and smiling so much. He also really needed to calm himself down. He picked up a glass of wine, accidentally beginning to drink it much faster than he usually did, coughing on it suddenly as he pulled the glass away from his lips.

“Oh, please don’t drink anymore! I really don’t want you to over do it, having a hangover on a plane doesn’t sound like any fun at all. “ MC said, cringing a little and trying to pull his arm back down. He only glanced at her with a cold expression, raising his glass again to see what she would do. 

“Mr. Han, come on.” she said, pouting beside him as she tried to push the glass away from him gently, holding onto both of his arms now as she tried to come in between him and his drink. That was enough for Jumin, and he set the glass down immediately, encircling her in his arms. He then pulled her up to him, kissing her firmly. When he pulled away she was looking at him with wide eyes, but she didn’t look particularly shocked. In fact, after a second she broke into a grin and said, resting her arms around his neck,

“Mr. Han, this isn’t very professional at all, I think you’re drunk.”

“I’ll probably be a little intoxicated soon, that’s true, but for now I’m thinking very clearly.” he replied, and he kissed her on the cheek. 

“Also, stop calling me Mr. Han.” he added before kissing her again, interrupting her laughing. His heart was thumping wildly now, but there was really nothing except for joy coursing through him in the moment. He tried to kiss her again but she stopped him, her face turning red as she said nervously,

“Okay, okay, I’m glad you figured it out. But we should be considerate of others.” 

He sighed, glancing around to see that there were a lot of surprised faces looking at them, the room having grown quieter. 

“Alright, Miss MC, if you’ll follow me then please.” he said, taking her by the arm and pulling her towards the chairman, who had only just caught sight of them. Jumin calmly walked her over to him and then politely thanked him for the party, and for how he was happy to see that the deal had gone through successfully. MC translated for him, her voice a little shaky, but she was still smiling brightly. The chairman nodded his head, still a little surprised like the rest of the employees around him, and he shook Jumin’s hand. Then Jumin finished by saying,

“It’s now grown late, and I think it’s time that Miss MC and I take our leave so that we will be able to make our flight home in the morning. Thank you again, and please excuse us.” She tried to translate this to the chairman but had to finish while Jumin started pulling her away towards the exit. The chairman waved at her, still a little confused, but with half of a smile on his face. So it was probably going to be fine.

“Where are we going? I already checked out of the hotel room...” she said, realizing now that she didn’t have a place to go. He continued to pull her along saying,

“Well when you get tired we’ll go to my new hotel room, if we’ve been able to handle it this far then I’m sure it won’t be a problem again tonight, right?”

“Okay... but where are we going right now?” she asked, and he didn’t glance at her as he replied, 

“I have no idea, just somewhere quiet.”  

She blushed and then stuttered,

“Okay, but let’s not forget my things in the coat room, alright?” 

“Oh, the coat room, that’s a wonderful suggestion.”

“ _ Jumin Han, that’s not what I said-” _

He pulled her around a corner to the entrance hallway, nodding at the woman sitting behind a desk outside of the coat room to watch over the belongings inside. She glanced up at Jumin to acknowledge the fact that they were going inside and then looked back down at the book she was reading, uninterested. 

Jumin closed the door behind them and then turned to see MC pulling up her suitcase handle, getting ready to leave. He sighed as he came up behind her, taking her hands from the handle and pulling her close against him. He rested his head on her shoulder, giving her neck a few small kisses. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply as he smoothed his hands down her dress, massaging slowly into her. 

He found the edge of her lace jacket, and he slid his fingers under it, feeling her jolt a little when he touched the skin of her open back

“Your hands are cold...” she gasped, and he hummed a little. He already knew that, he was used to being a cool temperature almost constantly. She always felt warm though, maybe together they’d be a perfect temperature?

Jumin traced down her back slowly, pressing his thumbs into her skin, and she took shaky breaths, squeezing her eyes shut. He reached her low back where the dress started again and he rested his hands there, thumbing over her skin lightly. She leaned her head back against his shoulder with a sigh, breathing steadily as he kissed her cheek, letting go of her hips as he circled his arms around her for a hug instead.

“I’m sorry. I hurt you today.” he then said quietly, squeezing her closer against him, 

“It’s alright. That was hard for you, I understand.” she said, smiling a little as she kept her eyes closed.

“Thank you for understanding, but it still isn’t excusable. I shouldn’t have put this trip over you and your feelings. I won’t do it again. I know that we haven’t been able to know each other for long... So I’m not sure if I’m allowed to call this feeling I have, love... but I know that without a doubt it will turn into love soon enough if I nurture it. I need to sacrifice for you more, I need to be more open about things and I need to put you first. I hope you’ll let me.” 

“Of course I will...” she said, putting one of her hands over his and squeezing it gently. He sighed, his breath over her neck making her shudder a little, and he said,

“I know why I feel this way about you.... I love how you talk to me on a personal level, instead of to the mask that I have to wear. And you’re so understanding and patient, much more than I deserve. You have come to mean so much to me, and I’ve only known you for a little while.... It’s overwhelming. So I understand all that but... why are  _ you _ even bothering with me?”

“Jumin...” she said, her voice sad, and he pushed his forehead deeper into her neck. He never felt upset at himself, he always felt in control of how he felt. He had always been good at accepting his faults and moving on, without beating himself up over things. Feeling insecure was something he had never encountered before like this, and he hated it. But it also was forcing him to discover new things about himself, and it was forcing himself to put his trust into her too. 

For once he wasn’t just worrying about accepting all of himself, but he was desperate for someone else to do the same; and he was suddenly worried that maybe he wasn’t as perfect as he saw himself to be. He had wronged her, and yet she was here with him now, forgiving him. He wanted to know why. He stopped moving his hands, holding her against him as they both breathed, and he waited for her to say something. 

“You were the most interesting person at the party when I met you.” she said finally after a moment, and he waited patiently for her to say more.

“You were so intimidating, and I could tell how much respect everyone had for you. And I’d heard about you before, and read articles, and I always wondered what you were like. And you know, whenever I go to these business meetings and parties, I always have this little voice in my head that won’t be quiet. And it just keeps yelling over and over again, ‘Why are you all acting so serious? We’re all the same, we’re all humans, why do we force ourselves to act so aloof and proper all the time when we all have the same basic wants and needs!’ It was always so frustrating to me to see people hiding themselves. I think it’s completely possible to be yourself and still be a mature and respectful person. So I always tried to do that, I try really hard to get people to come out of their shells. I want to talk to people and let them know that I appreciate them for who they are inside, not who they’re pretending to be.” She pulled away from him then, turning around and taking a hold of his arms as she faced him, looking at him straight in the eyes.

“So when I met you, I tried to do the same.... And I liked you. You’re sweet, and you... you love your cat! And you love your father... and you care about your friends more than your own job.... And while you would never deny those things if someone asked you, it’s still hidden under your surface. You shield the things that matter to you so that no one else can see them and put them in danger. And when you left me last night, and ignored me today... it really hurt. Because I thought you were going to hide yourself away again... or maybe I thought that I should stop being so invasive and let people open up in their own ways. I thought that maybe I should just let you keep your mask so that you can keep your life calm and organized, since you were really good at it. But I guess you didn’t want me to leave you alone. I’m really glad.” She looked away shyly, a smile breaking across her face. 

Then she looked up at him again and said, her voice shaking a little, 

“I just... wanted to see what you were like on the inside without your mask on. I think I’m going to love him too. Will you let me?”

Jumin took her hand, lifting it up to his lips and pressing her knuckles against them, his eyes closed as he paused. Then he opened his eyes and said, unable to stop the waver in his voice as well,

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted someone to do for me” 

He could feel them loosening inside his mind. The threads of emotions balled up inside of him slowly untangling themselves and letting him breathe, letting him feel things again. He could feel like this about someone, and it would be okay. He trusted her, he trusted her to help him with the things he had given up hope for. He could tell her about the fears that he had, or the scars of past experiences he wished could be healed. He could let himself feel insecure around her, and he knew she’d be able to help him cope with it. 

And he’d try his absolute best to do the same for her. 

He stood there, looking at her longer, unable to take his eyes off of her; and she had to clear her throat, stepping forward a little closer to him as she said with a small laugh,

“Did you want to stand here and stare at me in the coatroom all night, or do you want to go back to the hotel and rest? I’ve heard legends of you and your high alcohol tolerance, but isn’t all that wine hitting you yet?” 

“I’m sure it’ll be here soon enough...” he mumbled, continuing to stare at her. 

“Well we better get going then.” she said, bending down to reach for her suitcase again. His hand caught hers though, his free arm wrapping around her as he said cooly,

“Oh no, not yet, you were teasing me through the whole party and now you’ll face the consequences.” 

“Jeeze... your expression is terrifying right now, you know that?” she laughed as his face neared, and he raised his eyebrows as her. 

“Hmm... I’m just being myself like you asked. Are you sure you can handle it?” he said innocently, and she broke into a smile, closing her eyes as he pressed his lips against hers. 

“I sure hope so.” she breathed, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

 

\-----

 

The knock on the door made her jump, but Jumin seemed too distracted to notice. She was pretty sure everything that he’d been stress drinking was catching up with him now. She broke their kiss and pushed him away from her gently, trying to sit up before the door opened, combing her hair down with her fingers quickly. 

The door opened a little, and the woman who had been sitting at the desk poked her head in. She seemed unphased by the two of them and she sighed,

“I just wanted to let you know that I can hear people coming to collect their coats, so you two may want to collect yourselves first.” 

“Th-Thank you!” MC stuttered, and she would have turned redder if she wasn’t already blushing more than she ever had been before. The woman closed the door and MC turned to Jumin again, who also was red faced. “Come on Jumin, let’s go.” she said softly but hurriedly to the rumpled looking man, who had his hand on his forehead and looked tired. 

She quickly picked up her jacket that he’d pulled off of her, and put on her shoes, helping him up before she grabbed her suitcase and other things. 

“I’ll carry it.” he said quietly, taking the suitcase from her, as the two of them left quickly. He stumbled once as they left the building, and she had to steady him, scolding him again for drinking so much. 

“You were the one frustrating me all night. I can’t believe you wore that dress... and you kept smiling at everyone, I felt like I was going to explode.” he groaned, sounding a lot more petty now that his filter was going down.

“We’re going to have to find a better way to take out your frustrations then.” she said, helping him walk to the car.

“Usually when I’m stressed I either start to drink or I start to make cat related business proposals... Like wine... but for cats.” he sighed, and she wasn’t sure if he was being serious or if he was more drunk than she thought he was. ( **He wasn’t lying, that’s cannon** ) 

She pulled him into the car with her then, and let him reach over to buckle her up, since he seemed to move on instinct to do it. Then she rested her head on his shoulder, entwining her fingers with his. As the car started to move she asked quietly,

“When will I get to see you again when we fly back home?...” 

“As soon as possible.” he answered, setting his head against hers. “You can come over for dinner any time you wish... you still have to meet Elizabeth the Third too.” Jumin said, and she laughed and nodded.

“I’m excited to meet her. Do you miss her?”

“When am I not missing the most perfect cat in the whole wide world?” he sighed, making her laugh again. He fished out his phone from his pocket, beginning to thumb through the photos to show her his cat, his voice growing closer to a mumble as he went on. 

They were all very blurry photos, or out of frame, but she thought it was very endearing that one of the top CEO’s of South Korea had a phone full of blurry cat pictures. He thumbed over to one picture that was actually really well taken, the light catching his sleeping cat in a beautiful pose, and MC oohed at it for a second. 

“Oh... my friend took this picture. He’s a photographer. Look at... look at how pretty she is.” Jumin’s voice sounded choked up for a second, and she looked at him in alarm to see that he had tears rimming his eyes.

“Oh my goodness, you need to go to bed as soon as possible.” she said, unnerved to see this stern man starting to cry over a cat. 

“You’re right.” he sighed, sinking against her even more. He thumbed over to the next photo and she saw a (blurry) picture of a man smiling, holding Elizabeth in his arms. He had teal hair, bangs falling into his kind looking eyes as he smiled at the camera. 

“That’s him... that’s V...” Jumin mumbled, and she smiled.

“He’s your photographer friend?”

“Best friend. Yes.”

“He looks nice.”

Jumin hummed, and then said quietly as he put his phone down on his lap,

“I want him to take photos of you... I don’t know if he will but...it would be nice. I’m not good at it at all.”

“What would you do with photos of me?” she asked, smiling at him.

“Show them to everyone. Or keep them for myself. I’m not sure.”

She smiled wider, staying silent as they leaned against each other. 

“What time is the flight tomorrow? We’re on the same one, aren’t we?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, it’s the same one. We’re leaving at eleven.”

“Oh good.” he sounded incredibly relieved, and incredibly exhausted. When they reached the hotel he insisted on carrying her suitcase again, and she had to coax him into hand it to the Porter who was waiting to take bags. 

“Oh right, that’s his job...” Jumin sighed, sounding a little frustrated as he rubbed his forehead. She rolled her eyes, mentioning again how much of a headache he was going to have in the morning as she looped elbows with him and went up to his room. He seemed to be in a strange kind of state, still able to talk to her intelligently and look mostly normal, but with a slower muffled voice and lowered perception skills. It was kind of funny, if she was being honest. Once they got inside the room he sat down on the bed with a sigh, closing his eyes.

“Alright, I’m going to go get ready for bed, so don’t just sit there and zone out okay?” she said, and he made a small noise of acknowledgment. 

“Yeah okay...” she muttered, picking up her suitcase and pulling it into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and washed off her makeup, finally getting to see the mess that her lipstick was now. She brushed through her hair as she tried to find her pajamas in the suitcase she had already packed tightly today. She paused, looking at the contents. 

“Should I dig to the bottom to get my pajamas or.... Should I just wear... I’m going to wear the slip.” she mumbled to herself, trying to hide her shame from herself as she pulled out the silky dress. It was so comfortable though, she was going to keep this thing forever. 

When she went back into the bedroom she found him still lying there, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling slowly.

“Jumin... wake up.” she said, and his eyes opened a tiny bit with an unintelligible mumble. Then he sighed and sat up, glancing over at her. He immediately put his head in his hands, groaning in frustration. 

“Why do you insist on teasing me?” he said, and she looked down a little sheepish, actually trying not to laugh at him. He stood up, shaking his head as he walked to the bathroom, refusing to look at her. She had to stop teasing him at some point today, and she felt like it was coming to a close now. She was exhausted too. 

She climbed into the bed, scooting under the blankets and then pressing her face into the pillows, smiling into them. They smelled like him.

It was then that a sudden rush of happiness hit her, and she hummed happily, her fingers curling around the pillows and blankets. Today had started off awful but it had thankfully turned a complete 180. The fact that she was this close to Jumin now made her feel like the luckiest person in the whole world. She didn’t know when she would stop smiling. 

She opened her eyes sleepily when she felt him come back, and she reached her hand down to find his, curling her fingers around as they slid in place through his own.

After a few minutes she turned onto her side, and he did the same, spooning her as he circled his arms around her. Then a few more minutes passed and she tried to burrow into him, feeling a little cold. After a moment she tried to move closer again but then he breathed quietly,

“If you move around like that again I’m going to have to bring back the great wall of pillows, so  _ please _ stay still.” 

She cleared her throat, apologized in a whisper, and held still. Thankfully, she didn’t feel cold anymore.


End file.
